Kingdom Hearts III: War of the Keyblades
by Theo Gary
Summary: When the Destiny Islands are violently destroyed for a second time, Sora, Riku and Kairi are again thrust into a perilous adventure. However this time, nothing is what it seems. Please R&R!
1. Night of Destiny

**NOTES** - _I should really wait until I find out what the new KH game is going to be like before I post this, but I can't help it. I've had these ideas floating around in my head for too long. Anyways, as you'll find out, this takes place about a year after KH2. _

_I love reviews, even if they're negative. So if you read this, please let me know what you think._

_I don't own KH...so...yeah._

* * *

Light and dark. Two sides of one coin. It is these elements that comprise the entire universe. Light is what the average individual perceives on a daily basis. Even in the darkest night, there is light. But there are some who shun the light. They go to places on the other side where light is a rare anomaly. They gather in these places, and wait for the light to go out.

But nothing is pure light and dark. There are always shades of grey. And in the grey, tiny pockets form. And occasionally, these pockets take strange forms. One such pocket is an endless grassy field, split by a dirt path. Another is a castle with rooms that take forms based on a person's memories.

And another is a tall, spindly tower situated on a small piece of land floating in a shimmering, rainbow-colored cloud. The tower bends fancifully, this-way-and-that, and in front of it sits a flamboyant purple and gold train car, decorated with stars and moons.

At the top of the tower was a simple room with only an unadorned table in the center. It was in this room that several beings had gathered. These were called Guardians. It was there job to protect the worlds from all danger. Each was blessed with certain powers and all with great wisdom. Over the years, their council had shrunk to just a few, as some Guardians decided to focus solely on their own worlds. But these few were now gathered to discuss matters of great importance. For this solemn occasion, the lights had been dimmed and darkness sat heavy about the room.

"So he's really gone for good." said a deep and powerful, yet somehow playful voice. "The Keyblade Master defeated his troublesome Nobody. Ha! Even that goat would have a tough time not calling him a Hero now!"

"Yes." said another deep voice, this one carrying the faintest hint of an animalistic growl behind it. "To have defeated one of the Lost Two in both his forms? This Son of Adam is truly remarkable."

"Hmm. 'Remarkable' can mean many different things, my friend." said a woman's voice with an exotic accent. "The most evil of men could be called remarkable. But there is no doubt, he have a touch of...destiny...about him."

"True enough." said yet another male voice, this one stern and proud. "He has saved my world twice. Yet the weapon he holds is still dangerous. It could still bring untold destruction to the worlds."

A loud snort preceded the next voice. It was thick and raspy, but seemed to be filled with laughter. "You be worryin' too much. He's a good boy. You just gotta look into his heart to see dat!"

"You've stayed uncharacteristically silent this whole time." said the first voice to another as yet unheard one. "What do you have to say on this?"

A bizarre voice chuckled. It was neither male nor female and it always seemed to be coming from a different direction. "What have I to say? What can be said that has not yet been said but is nonetheless yet to say? _Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves, and the momeraths outgrabe..._"

"Ye'll get no clearer answer out of him." said the female voice with a sigh.

"Enough." said a final voice. A light arose behind this speaker. He was a tall, bearded man in full-length blue robes. Atop his head sat a tall pointed hat covered in gold stars and moons. Master Yen Sid looked around, to the other speakers. "Sora's most challenging test is yet to come. The Chasers are once again free. Already he has fought one of them and come out the victor. But that Chaser was not at full power at the time. As long as he holds the Keyblade, they will never stop hunting him. I'm afraid, my friends, that the Keyblade War is about to begin again."

"So what must we do?" asked the first voice, all hints of playfulness gone.

Yen Sid raised a hand and looked to one side. "There is nothing we can do now." he said after a moment. "The first battle has just been fought."

"When? Where?" asked the female voice.

"I feel it too." growled the second voice. "In the Gathering Place. "The Chasers...And the Lost One."

"So he has returned." said the laughing voice, suddenly grave. "It was too much to hope he would stay asleep."

"His power is already growing." said the stern voice. "I cannot tell the outcome of the battle."

"Return to your worlds." said Yen Sid. "We must prepare for the worst. I will send my Apprentice to the Graveyard to see what has transpired."

"Will he not be in danger?" asked the first voice.

Yen Sid gave a very rare smile. "He will be. But the King is tremendously resourceful. He even surprises me at times. No, this is definitely a job for him."

"One final question before we part." said the stern voice. "What of the Master of Keyblade?"

A bright white object, appearing at first to be a half-moon, appeared out of the darkness. On closer inspection, it was revealed to be a grinning mouth. It was out of this that the bizarre voice came. "The Master of Keyblade is a riddle in and of himself." The mouth floated around behind Yen Sid and began to sing. "_Not dark, not light, not black white or green. His part in this tale is yet to be seen. He will rise to great heights and fall to the deep. It will all begin as it all began...with birth by sleep_."

* * *

The Destiny Islands. Nobody's memory went far back enough to tell how or why they had been given that name. But it was an ironically apt name, for it was here that several important destinies had begun. Sora, a boy with spiky brown hair, had been born here and it was here that he had received the legendary weapon known as the Keyblade. With it, he had saved the Universe itself twice from being swallowed by darkness.

When the Heartless first appeared and attacked a world known as Radiant Garden, a red-headed girl named Kairi had been sent here under mysterious circumstances. Later, she would turn out to be one of the Princesses of Heart; Seven maidens of the purest heart who were the key to opening the Door to Darkness, inside of which lay Kingdom Hearts.

And finally, Riku. Silver-haired Riku's destiny had not begun well. He had lived on the islands all his life, but he had chafed at living within its confines. And so, one night, he accepted the Power of Darkness and had become the vessel for a being called Xehanort to try and consume the universe in Darkness. But eventually, he overcame Xehanort and obtained a Keyblade of his own, with which he helped Sora defeat Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody.

Sora, Riku and Kairi now sat, watching the sunset as they had for the last year since they had returned to the Islands. Sora was now almost as tall as Riku. He had cut his hair much shorter, finally having given in to all the snide comments people gave him about it. But he still kept it resolutely spiked up. Riku, on the other hand, had allowed his hair to grow out even longer. He usually wore it tied back in a pony tail, but when he didn't, Sora reflected that he looked almost like a younger version of Xehanort. Kairi had kept her hair long and now wore a single blonde streak to one side, in honor of Namine, her Nobody who had helped them all so much.

They all looked up into the sky, hoping to see the shape of a Gummi Ship streaking down through the clouds. This had become something of a habit over the course of the year, ever since they had received a cryptic letter from Mickey Mouse, the King of Disney Castle, telling them to expect him again soon.

As the sun sank lower, Kairi sighed and propped her head up on one hand. "Nothing." she said sadly.

"He'll come one of these days." Sora said optimistically. "When has the King ever let us down?"

"I'm worried about him." said Kairi. "It's been over a year. Maybe something happened to him. There are still Heartless out there, not to mention that Maleficent woman."

"That's assuming Maleficent is still alive." Sora pointed out. "The last we saw of her and Pete, they were going up against about a million Heartless."

"She's alive." Riku said quietly. "I can still smell her scent out there. It's faint, but it's there."

Sora had never understood Riku's ability to "smell" Darkness and Light and to even be able to pick out whose darkness and light it was.

"What about the King?" Kairi asked. "Can you pick up his scent?"

Riku closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he opened his eyes again, he looked sad. "No. Nothing."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes until they seemed to come to a consent and made for their boats to return home.

* * *

Riku sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air and dripping with cold sweat. He looked down at his hand where his Way to Dawn Keyblade had appeared in response to his panic. He looked around his room. It was as normal as ever and it was certainly not filled with Heartless as he had dreamed it was. He sighed and dismissed the Keyblade. _I guess this is what I get for spending so much time in the Darkness._ he thought. _I can handle a few nightmares._ He looked over at his alarm clock. 2:00 AM. Well, he decided, he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon, so he quietly got dressed, snuck downstairs past his parents room, and went out the back door. He grabbed a Blitzball that he had left in the back yard and jogged down to the beach. When he had been younger, practicing Blitzball had always cleared his head. He didn't really expect it to now, but he desperately wanted to do something normal all the same.

He kicked the ball around for a while, never really putting much heart into it. Then he took off his shirt and swam laps back and forth between two arms of the cove. But even when he finished that, he still wasn't tired enough to go back to bed. So, he flopped down on the sand and stared up into the night sky. Suddenly, he frowned. He was somewhat familiar with the stars, having studied them often as a boy, and wishing he could travel to them. He could tell by looking that there were stars missing. An icy feeling took hold in his chest right as the water out in the bay exploded upwards like a geyser. Out of the geyser came a terrifying shape. It was a sailing ship, but unlike any Riku had ever seen before. Its prow was in the shape of crushing jaws and its sails were tattered and lined with spiked edges. All across its sides were portholes in the shapes of ghoulish faces. But worst of all to him, the vessel fairly reeked of Darkness. All of a sudden, there rose from the ground around him small black creatures with waving antennae and glowing yellow eyes. _Heartless!_ he thought. He summoned the Way to Dawn and slashed through the first creature that jumped at him. It was reduced to a cloud of putrid black smoke, but the others all followed in after it. They too quickly met the same fate.

With one last glance at the ship, Riku dashed up towards the town. But at that moment, he heard a distant bang, followed by a high-pitched whistling sound and he instinctively threw himself to the ground. Right next to him, a tree exploded, showering him with splinters. He almost laughed right out loud. The ship was firing honest-to-god canons! But his desire to laugh soon faded as he heard more bangs and parts of buildings began exploding. He pulled himself to his feet and started running again. By now, he could hear panicked screams coming from the town as citizens awoke to find their homes under attack. In the square, he found the police trying to herd citizens deeper into the island's interior.

"Hey, Riku, get over here, kid!" He turned and saw Jecht, leader of the town's militia waving him over. Tired and afraid men were nervously organizing behind him, all holding various weapons. "I saw you come from the beach. What the hell is that thing out there?"

"I don't know," he replied, "but it's brought the Heartless with it."

"Heartless?" Jecht growled. "Those things you, Sora and Kairi told us about? The ones that destroyed the Islands before?"

Riku nodded. "I have to find Sora and Kairi. We may be the only ones who can stop them!"

Jecht nodded. "Go. We'll hold them off here."

Riku ran into town towards the neighborhood where Sora and Kairi lived. Along the way, he met increasing numbers of Heartless and all the while he could hear and feel tremendous concussions from the ship's continued canon fire.

"Riku!" Around a corner, he found Kairi surrounded by Neo Shadows. She wielded her own Keyblade, given to her by Riku, which now took the shape of the Oathkeeper thanks to her lucky charm hanging from its hilt. He raised his hand and fired a Dark Firaga which obliterated the closest of the Heartless. Meanwhile, Kairi held her own, reducing first one and then another to dust. But even after they had finished the monsters off, more appeared and charged them. Suddenly, they heard a battle shout and Sora jumped into the fray, smashing Heartless left and right with his gold and silver Keyblade.

"Glad you could make it, Sora." Riku said after obliterating the last of them.

The boy grinned. "Yo know me. I love to make an entrance."

"If you boys are finished, we still have work to do." Kairi said.

"_Boys_?" Sora and Riku demanded together.

Kairi rolled her eyes and ran back into town with Sora and Riku right behind her. "We have to get out to our Island!" she said, instinctively ducking as the wall of a house exploded near them.

"Why?" Riku asked.

"The Keyhole!" Sora exclaimed, seeing where she was going with it.

Kairi nodded. "It's the only reason the Heartless would be here."

"One problem." Riku said. "That ship is directly between us and the Island. If it sees any boats, it'll blow them out of the water."

"We'll use our magic to protect ourselves." Sora said. "I've got Reflect and you've got that Barrier spell. Kairi, we'll probably be pretty worn out from all the Magic use by the time we get to the Island. You may need to take care of the Heartless."

Kairi nodded and gripped her Keyblade tightly.

In the end, it wasn't quite so easy to get to the island. Even with Sora and Riku using protective magic, the tiny boat nearly capsized every time a canonball came their way. But finally, they made it. And as soon as they made landfall, a group of Heartless appeared around them. Sora and Riku fought as best they could, but they were obviously spent from having to use their magic reserves. However, Kairi held her own and soon, they were dashing towards the Secret Place where the door to the Destiny Island's Heart was.

But they were too late.

The moment Sora stepped towards the opening, a wave of Darkness slammed into him and knocked him back several feet. With a groan like a giant dying animal, the world started to break apart around them. A swirling ball of Darkness appeared in the sky and started sucking up trees, buildings, water, even whole chunks of ground.

"NO!" Sora screamed, pounding the still somewhat intact island where they sat.

Out in what remained of the bay, the ship sank down into the water and vanished.

"Sora, pull yourself together!" Riku shouted over the roaring wind. "We've got trouble!"

Behind them rose the massive Heartless known as Darkside. Sora gritted his teeth and stood next to his friends, gripping his Keyblade and setting his face in a fierce expression. The creature raised its fist and slammed it down towards them, forcing them to scatter. Riku rolled to one side and jumped to his feet, shooting a Dark Firaga at its head. The creature roared and stumbled backwards, but then attacked again, firing energy blasts out of the heart-shaped hole in its chest. The three Keyblade Masters dodged or reflected the blasts back, but still the Heartless did not fall.

"When did this thing get so tough?" Sora wondered aloud. "I defeated one of these before I even got the Keyblade!"

All of a sudden, the Darkside was slammed by several powerful laser blasts. It roared and fell backwards over the edge of the island. The trio looked up as a familiar red and yellow ship swooped in and hovered just over the ground. Its canopy opened and a familiar quacking voice shouted, "Sora, Riku, Kairi, come on!"

The three glanced at each other, surprised, but then jumped aboard the ship. Inside, none other than Donald Duck and Goofy were at the controls.

"Hand on!" Goofy shouted. "I think we're in for some tribulance!"

"TURBULENCE!" Donald corrected automatically.

Goofy pulled up on the control yoke, taking them away from the maelstrom that was the death throes of the Destiny Islands. The Gummi Ship rolled and bucked and seemed almost ready to shake apart, but them Goofy slammed the Warp Drive button and the ship jumped away. Sora stood and looked back in time to see his home star wink out.

He groaned and slumped to the floor. "I can't believe it." he muttered. "Not again."

Nobody said a word for a while. Kairi sat down beside Sora and put her arm around him. Riku sat in one of the chairs and stared out at the passing stars, his face dark and brooding.

"Sora, I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner." Donald said sadly.

Sora shook his head. "It's not your fault."

"What brought you guys, anyways?" Riku asked. "Did you know what was happening?"

Donald shook his head. "Not exactly. But the Heartless have started destroying worlds again. Master Yen Sid came to Disney Castle and sent the King on another mission. Then he told us to go and get all of you."

"What worlds have they destroyed?" Sora asked.

Donald handed him a piece of paper with a sad expression on his face. "These are the ones we know of."

Sora looked down the list and his heart sank even lower. Some world names he didn't recognize, but many he knew, such as Neverland, Halloween Town, Deep Jungle, Traverse Town, the Land of the Dragons and Agrabah.

"Are we headed back to Disney Castle?" Kairi asked.

"Nope. We're goin' to Hollow Bas-I mean-Radiant Garden." Goofy said.

"That's where Master Yen Sid said we should go." Donald explained. "He wants us to warn Leon and the others about what's going on."

That made Sora marginally more cheerful. He would be glad to see Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Merlin again. And, he hoped, maybe even Tifa and Cloud would be there.

With that thought, he dozed off into an unquiet sleep.


	2. A Stroll Through the Garden

**NOTES** - Bleh...This took me forever to write. School and work both decided to let loose with both barrels. But here it is!

For reference, Cid's outfit is the one he wears in Advent Children. Yuffie is dressed in her Dirge of Cerberus attire. Aerith is wearing her outfit from Crisis Core. Barrett is wearing his outfit from FFVII, but with the arm from Advent Children, instead of just the gun. Rinoa and Kimahri are both in their classic looks from their respective games.

And, yes, there is a very random crossover character in this chapter. The idea wouldn't leave me alone after I saw a KH pic on deviantart with him in it. But he's not totally out of park because the company that produces his show is owned by Disney.

But yeah. Please R&R.

* * *

The ship leapt up high, riding on the brink of a massive wave and then came crashing back down with a tremendous spray of salt water. On the deck, strange, misshapen men worked while Heartless prowled around them, searching in vain for hearts that they could consume. The hearts of the ship's crew would be a feast to them, but they could not even smell them. For these hearts belonged to someone else.

Alone in the ship's dark cabin sat a being who could never be called a man. He wore a barnacle-encrusted great coat and a tattered Captain's hat. One of his hands was a massive, crushing crab claw. The other was a slime-covered tentacle. His terrifying face was an unholy melding of human and octopus, with grasping tentacles forming a sick parody of a beard. This creature was Davy Jones, captain of the _Flying Dutchman._

Besides the crashing of waves on the sides of the ship, only one sound filled the cabin. It was a quiet, almost dainty music, floating from a tiny, heart-shaped gold box. The music, though just a simple tune, conveyed to the listener feelings of love, deeper than the ocean and of pain, deeper still. The music came to a stop with a faint click.

"How...sentimental." said a sneering voice. Jones' head whipped around. In the shadows, he could see a dark form with glowing yellow eyes, it's head crowned with blue flames. "You know, I haven't been this choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka stuck in my throat! Am I right!" The being stepped fully into the cabin's dim light.

"Hades!" Jones growled. "What do you want here?"

"Ah come on, Davy." Hades said mockingly. "Do I need a reason to visit an old pal?"

"What do you want?" Jones repeated angrily.

Hades sighed dramatically. "Yeesh. Tough room. But unfortunately, you're right. I'm here on business. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I gave you some very specific instructions to capture the Keyblade brats _before_ you destroyed their world. I mean, am I totally off here? Please, tell me if I am."

"I do what I want when I want." Jones sneered.

"Davy, Davy, Davy, aren't we forgetting one teensy-tiny but oh-so crucial little detail? _**I OWN YOU**_!" with these last words, Hades' flames burst into an angry orange color and spread to his arms and across his back. "But you seem to need a reminder of that fact." He snapped his fingers and there appeared in his hand, a human heart, still beating. Jones cried out and leapt at Hades, but the dark god dug his finger-nails into the heart. Immediately, Jones fell to the deck, gasping and clutching at his chest. Hades smiled and snapped his fingers again. Three Shadow Heartless rose out of the deck and looked up at the heart hungrily. "Just remember, any time I want, I feed this little jewel to them and you're just another Heartless." The Heart vanished again in a puff of smoke and Jones climbed slowly to his feet. "Fortunately for you, we can still correct your rather egregious error. The Micky Mouse Club managed to get away. They're on Radiant Garden now and we don't have enough Heartless to get to them there. But as soon as we start threatening the worlds, they'll come flying to the rescue. Then, they're all mine."

"All _yours_, Hades?"

Hades sighed irritably as he turned to the new arrival. "All _ours_, Maleficent."

The Mistress of All Evil smiled coldly. "Good. You may make use of them, but never forget whose Heartless these really are." She didn't make any motion, but the Heartless Hades had summoned moved to her side to emphasize the point.

There was a knock on the cabin door. "Enter!" Jones bellowed.

A man with the head of a shark stepped inside. "Captain, the prisoners are gathered."

Jones stomped past Maleficent and Hades, his peg leg making an ominous _thud, thud _every time it hit the deck. His two masters followed.

Lined up on the top deck were half-a-dozen men, all of whom were beaten and bloodied. Their clothes revealed them to be survivors of the Destiny Islands.

Jones walked slowly to the first man and brought his face close to him. "Do you fear death?" he asked quietly. The man shook in fear and incoherent sounds issued forth from his mouth. "Do you fear that dark abyss?" Jones continued. "All your deeds laid bare...All your sins punished." He paused and allowed this to sink in. "I offer an escape. A chance to forestall the final judgement. One-hundred years before the mast. Will ye sail for me?"

"I w-will, s-sir." The man stammered.

"Coward." the man next to him hissed. Unlike the other, this man was not quaking in fear. He was staring defiantly at Jones.

Jones' eyes narrowed and he walked to this man. "Do you _not_ fear death?" he asked.

The man smirked. "I don't fear anything. Not even you, fish-face."

"Very well." said Jones with a shrug. "To the depths."

A crewman raised his sword to slit the man's throat. "Wait." said Maleficent. She stepped forward and looked down at the man. "What is your name?" she asked.

The man gave her the same defiant look he had given Jones. "Jecht. What's it to you?"

Maleficent smiled. "Your heart is strong, Jecht. I may have some use for you."

* * *

All too soon, Kairi shook Sora awake. "We're here." she said. Sora rubbed his eyes and stood to look out the window. Sure enough, the Garden's unusual blue soil was passing far beneath them and overhead, he could see a purple sky with orange clouds. He noted that there seemed to be a lot more foliage since the last time they had been here. And they also passed over some small villages. Clearly, the Restoration Committee had been busy. 

"Ahyuk! There it is!" said Goofy. Straight ahead there rose a tall ring of grey stone. At intervals, waterfalls fell from places in the wall and fed a moat which surrounded the city. Sora noted that the gate, destroyed in the massive Heartless invasion, had been completely repaired. As they passed over the ring, they saw little squares of orange that represented houses and larger squares of green which Sora supposed were parks. And most impressive of all, the once imposing castle now rose invitingly from the center of the town. No longer was it missing whole chunks of towers and walls. It was complete and colorful clouds of smoke rose from its many stacks. Leon and the others really _had_ been busy.

They did one turn around the castle before settling down in a large open area where several other Gummi Ships of varying sizes sat. Goofy powered the ship down and opened the canopy. Instantly, a team of Moogles rushed the ship and began doing everything from polishing the windshield to refueling it.

"We-hell, look what the cat dragged in." said a familiar voice.

Sora looked around and grinned when he spotted the source. "Cid!" he exclaimed.

"Ya know anyone else with these stunning good looks?" the old pilot asked, thumbing his nose and smirking. He appeared hardly to have changed at all. He still wore his goggles up over his head, and he now wore a blue T-Shirt, brown gloves and black pants. "What brings y'all to this neck of the woods?" he asked.

Instantly, Sora sobered up and his face fell. "The Heartless. They destroyed our world."

Cid stared at him for a moment and then looked to the others for confirmation. "I'm sorry, kid." he said quietly. "Come on. I'll take ya to Leon."

Cid gave instructions to the Head Moogle and then took the companions into the town. There definitely seemed to be a lot more people about the town than there had been. Sora supposed that many who had been scattered when the world had initially been destroyed had returned. A short walk led them to the gates of the Castle itself, which Sora remembered passing through on several occasions in the past. The layout of the interior, he noticed, had not changed much since his first adventure there two years before. However, it was definitely more cheerful. There were no more traces of Heartless symbols and the severe colors had been replaced with softer muted ones. And instead of the endless waves of Heartless, people now strolled its halls, talking cheerfully. Cid led them to the lifts which took them down to Ansem's Study. He stopped at the door. "Leon's in there. You can go on in. I gotta get back to work. But drop by when you're done. You might even find that hunk of junk you're flyin' is runnin' a little better." They said goodbye to Cid and pushed the door open. As they entered, Sora noticed significant changes here as well. A portrait of the real Ansem the Wise now stood where once Xehanort had put his own portrait. The walls were lined now with books instead of scientific equipment. And at the desk sat Leon with... "King Mickey!" all the companions exclaimed at once. The diminutive King jumped at the sudden voices but laughed when they all rushed forward to greet him. "I'm so glad to see that you're all alright!" he said. "We just heard about the Islands and we feared Donald and Goofy might be too late."

"Sora, what happened?" Leon asked.

Sora looked at Riku who sighed and explained about the appearance of the mysterious ship and of the Heartless it seemed to command.

The King nodded once he had finished. "That's the same report we've heard from survivors of other worlds. I've been traveling all over the galaxy for months, trying to find out about this ship."

Riku's looked confused and said, "But your Majesty, I haven't been able to detect your scent at all for almost a year."

The King nodded. "That's because I was using the Corridors of Darkness. I know it was dangerous, but I couldn't risk Gummi travel. But it paid off in the end. I had just about given up and I was on my way here when I stopped at a world called Port Royal, just to get some supplies."

"Hey, I've been there!" Sora exclaimed.

The King chuckled. "I know. There's a standing warrant for your arrest there. The charge is engaging in criminal activity with a known Pirate."

Sora chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we did kinda steal a ship..."

"Anyways," continued the King, "I happened to run into an old friend there. Remember Pete?"

"Wak!" Donald exclaimed. "How in the world did that big palooka survive fighting all those Heartless?"

"I don't know." said the King. "But apparently, Maleficent did too. I ended up driving him away, but he let slip something about having the _Flying Dutchman_ on his side."

"THE _FLYING DUTCHMAN_?" Sora, Riku and Kairi all exclaimed at once.

"You've heard of it?" The King asked.

Kairi nodded. "It's a story the sailors on our Island tell...well...told. Legend has it that a great sailor called Davy Jones, Captain of a ship called the _Flying Dutchman_, fell in love with a woman as wild and untamable as the sea itself. When she left him, he cut out his heart and locked it in a chest. And now, he ferries the souls of those killed at sea down to his own personal hell."

"Yup. That's pretty much the same story I heard when I asked some people about it." said the King.

"I'm kinda confused." said Goofy. "If that there Davy Jones feller cut out his heart, wouldn't that make him a Heartless?"

"We don't know. But that's one of the things we want to find out." said the King.

Leon looked at them gravely. "If the legend is real and if Pete was telling the truth, then we've got big problems. Several big problems, actually."

"Don't tell me there's more." groaned Sora.

The King sighed. "What I have to say concerns me and you three especially." he said to Sora, Riku and Kairi. "But there's someone who might be able to explain it better." He beckoned them over to the door which led, Sora knew, to Ansem's Computer. They followed him down the corridor and into the room.

"_Greetings!"_ said the familiar voice of Tron as soon as they had entered. _"It is wonderful to see you again, Sora, Donald and Goofy."_

"Hiya, Tron!" Sora said. "Doing alright?"

Tron chuckled. _"Never better. This must be Riku and Kairi."_

Sora glanced back at his friends, who were staring open-mouthed at the talking computer. "Oh, right. Guys, this is Tron. He runs Radiant Garden's computer systems."

"Uh...nice to meet you." Kairi said.

"_So what can I do for you today?"_ Tron asked.

"We need you to tell us everything you know about the Keyblade War." The King said.

Everyone except Leon and the King were surprised at the strange term.

"_Accessing D.T.D..."_ Tron said. After a moment, he said, _"Much of the data on that subject is corrupt. But what I can tell you is that many years ago, before the Worlds were separated, a war broke out between two armies of Keyblade-wielding warriors. Apparently, it lasted for many years. But then, in what was supposed to be the final battle, all of them were wiped out on both sides."_

"By what?" Sora asked.

"_That data is unavailable."_ said Tron. _"But what is known is that soon after, the world was disconnected and reformed into what we know today."_

"How do you know all this?" Riku asked.

"_I don't."_ Tron replied simply. _"But Ansem the Wise did. He did a great deal of research on the Keyblade War. Unfortunately, most of that research he kept in this computer and it was either erased or corrupted by the MCP."_

"And any first-hand knowledge was lost when he died." Riku said.

"Why did the MCP erase the data, Tron?" Sora asked.

Tron made a sound like a snort. _"Because to him, it was perfectly logical. He added so many programs to the original system that eventually, he needed to clear out some memory to store it all. Since much of Ansem's older data was considered irrelevant, he erased it."_

"And that's all we know." finished Leon. "We're still working with Tron to see if we can recover any of the corrupted data."

"_I promise I'll put as much of my processing power as I can spare into it." _said Tron.

"In the meantime," said Leon, "why don't you go have a look around? Things have changed a lot here."

"I think I'm going to go up to the library." said Kairi. "Maybe I can find something there."

"I'll go with you." said Riku. "Sora?"

"No thanks." Sora said. "I think I'll go into town. I want to go see Merlin and the others."

"We'll come with you!" said Donald.

Goofy grinned and put his arm around Sora's shoulder. "It'll be just like old times! Ahyuk!"

Leon checked to make sure that Sora and the others were out of earshot before saying "So are you going to finish telling me about your _other_ mission?"

They all made their way out into the corridors where Sora, Donald and Goofy parted ways with Kairi and Riku.

"We'll go out the postern." Sora said. "It'll be faster."

A short walk later, they found themselves at the postern door, but when they approached it, it remained closed. Sora waved his hand in front on it and they all tried jumping up and down, but still, it wouldn't budge.

"Ah phooey!" quacked Donald, stomping his foot.

"Not a problem." Sora said with a grin. He walked up to it, took out the Keyblade, pointed it at the door, and said in a loud, clear voice, "Magnet!" The door shuddered as the spell took hold and Sora tugged the Keyblade over, wrenching it open. "Voila!" he said.

"Showoff." muttered Donald, rolling his eyes. Sora laughed and stuck a munny up in the crack between the door and the frame. "There. Now it'll be open when we come back." With that, he left, followed by Donald. Goofy happened to glance down where a piece of paper was laying on the floor. He picked it up and read, "Out...of...order. Do not use." Hey, fellas-"

"Come on, ya big palooka!" shouted Donald.

Goofy looked at the sign, and then shrugged and dropped it before running after his friends.

Sora looked around happily as they went through the town. They stopped by Uncle Scrooge's Ice Cream Parlor and each got a Sea-Salt Ice Cream Bar. Then, they made their way down towards the residential district.

"I heard you guys were back in town." said a playful voice. Sora looked around and jumped slightly when the head of a young woman with short black hair dropped into view in front of him. He looked up and grinned. "Yuffie!" The young ninja was hanging upside-down from a lamppost and matching his grin. She still wore her standard short shorts, but she now wore a purple top, held up one side by a yellow strap.

"Welcome back!" she pulled herself up and then did a back-flip off the lamppost. "Come on! Everyone's expecting you at Merlin's house!"

The trio followed their friend past a few more normal houses to one that Sora immediately recognized. Yuffie pushed open the door. "Lucy, I'm hoooome!" she called.

Sitting around a table was Aerith and Merlin. Merlin looked the same as when Sora had seen him last, but Aerith now wore a blue and white dress, along with the pink ribbon holding up her long brown hair. There, too, were three Sora didn't recognize. One was a burly black man with a metal right arm, wearing dark green pants and a brown jacket. The next was a tall, almost feline being who was covered in blue fur with white hair and a horn protruding from his forehead. He wore only a brown and gold kilt with a red rope belt and a teal loincloth Finally, there was a young woman with long black hair and a pleasant face. She wore a black suit with a powder blue coat. Yuffie cleared her throat importantly. "Everyone, this is Sora Donald and Goofy, the saviors of the universe. You guys already know some of us. The ones you don't know are Barrett Wallace," The black man nodded. "Wassup, little man?" "Kimahri Ronso," The blue being stared at Sora with his yellow eyes narrowed. "and finally, Rinoa Heartlilly." The woman smiled. "A pleasure to meet you."

Aerith stood and hugged the trio. "It's so good to see you three again." she said. "I'm so sorry about the Islands, Sora. We'll find a way to restore them."

Sora smiled. "Thanks, Aerith. It's good to see you too."

Merlin also stood and smiled. "You're looking well, my lads. Sora, I hope you've been practicing your magic."

"I have!" Sora said. "I cast some good reflect spells during the battle."

Merlin laughed. "Excellent. That's very good to hear."

Sora, Donald and Goofy joined the others around the table.

"So what's been happening?" Donald asked. "You guys have done a good job fixing this place up."

"Well, we can't take all the credit." Yuffie said. "A lot of the former residents of this world have been returning lately and they're all happy to pitch in. And we got a huge anonymous donation right after you three left the last time."

Barrett gave a low growl of disgust. "'Anonymous' my butt. We all know who it was."

"Barrett, we don't know it was Shinra." Aerith said.

"We sure do!" Barrett said angrily, pounding his fist on the table. "Who else has that much munny? You ask me, he's trying to fall back in favor."

"Who's Shinra?" Goofy asked.

Aerith sighed. "Rufus Shinra. He's...complicated. He's a businessman who ran several companies back in old Radiant Garden. One was Encom, where Ansem the Wise originally got the Tron program. But his real pet project was with genetics. Around the time, we know now that Xehanort had taken Ansem's name, he began a project called SOLDIER. He took the strongest young men in Radiant Garden and began slowly infusing their hearts with darkness. You've met two of them yourselves."

Sora's eyes widened. "Cloud and Sephiroth."

Rinoa nodded. "That's right. They were the strongest of the SOLDIERs, even though Cloud was only sixteen at the time. So-"

Suddenly, Cid's computer in the corner beeped. _"Sorry to interrupt." _said Tron's voice. _"Sora, the King would like you to meet he, Leon and your friends at the castle postern."_

Sora nodded. "Tell them we're on our way. Sorry, guys. We can finish this conversation later. It was good to meet you all."

"Take care of yourself, kid." Barrett said.

Sora, Donald and Goofy made their way back up to the castle. "Gawrsh, I never knew all that about Cloud." said Goofy.

"Yeah." said Donald. "No wonder it's so hard for him to escape his darkness."

Sora looked up into the sky. "I hope he's okay. The last time we saw him, he was still fighting Sephiroth."

"I'm sure he's okay!" said Goofy cheerfully. "He's just gotta follow the light back to his friends here."

Sora nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

By this time, they had made it back to the postern. They noticed, as they approached, a tall man with short black hair wearing a blue jumpsuit. Printed on the back was the word 'Janitor.' He was standing on a step-ladder and working on the door with a screwdriver. As he heard Sora approach, he glanced over.

"Oh, hi. We're just waiting for someone." Sora said.

The Janitor nodded. "Door's broke." he said. "I put a sign up, but some jackass jammed it open."

Sora glanced at Donald and Goofy nervously. Both looked away, feigning disinterest. "Uh...Maybe someone stuck a munny up in it." he said.

The Janitor narrowed his eyes. "Why a munny?"

"No reason!" Sora said quickly.

"...Did you stick a munny in there?" The Janitor asked.

"No!"

The Janitor pointed his screwdriver at Sora's neck like a sword. "If I find a munny in there, I'm taking you down."

"Sora, there you are." The boy breathed a sigh of relief as Leon, the King, Riku and Kairi rounded the corner and approached.

"I know you all just got here, but we've got trouble." the King said. "We're reading a huge upsurge of Heartless all across the worlds. Sora, Riku, Kairi, if you're willing, we'd like you three do go with Donald and Goofy and seal those Keyholes. I have other business I need to attend to around the worlds, so our paths may sometimes cross."

Sora nodded. "We'll take care of those Keyholes. Don't you worry, your majesty."

"Cid says your ship is ready to go." said Leon.

They made their way to the spaceport where they found the Highwind fueled and warmed up. Cid was standing next to it with his arms crossed. "She's good to go. I upgraded the weapons. Hopefully you won't need 'em. Come back when ya got more time and I'll do more."

Sora nodded. "Thanks, Cid."

"Good luck, you guys." Leon said.

"Hopefully I'll be seeing you all again soon." said the King.

As Sora climbed into the cockpit, he happened to glance back. There, he saw the Janitor standing a hsort ways away from the ship, holding up a munny. The man brought his finger up and slowly slid it across his throat. Sora gulped and ducked down out of sight.

With a roar, the Gummi Ship lifted off and soared off into the sky.


	3. Inglorious Beginnings

"_Wh-Who are you?"_

"_...Someone from the dark."_

"_You can't be...Riku?"_

"_Riku? I defeated a Riku once."_

"_You what?"_

"_Tell me! Tell me why he picked you! ...I see. That's why."_

_The Nobody called Roxas...his Nobody...dropped his Keyblades down into a fighting position and charged at Sora. His attacks were like lightning and Sora could feel his arms weakening. With one last swift strike. Roxas knocked the Keyblade from Sora's hands. Sora reached out to call it back, but he found himself looking up the shaft of another strange Keyblade. It appeared to be ancient, based on its worn appearance and its design was unfamiliar. It was held, not by the one he had been fighting, but by another wearing a full set of armor and a grey cloak._

* * *

Sora awoke with a start. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. The strange dark place was gone, now replaced with the interior of the _Highwind_. And gone too were both Roxas and the strange armored figure. He saw Goofy snoozing in the copilot's seat while Riku flew the ship. He heard Donald's voice down below teaching Kairi magic.

"Bad dreams?"

Sora looked over at the seat next to him and smiled. Sitting there was a tiny cricket in a suit and a blue top hat. "It's nothing, Jiminy." Sora replied. "Just something that happened a long time ago."

"You know, it always helps to talk about stuff." Jiminy said, hopping over to Sora's knee. "Especially when you've got friends willing to listen."

Sora sighed. "You're right. It's Roxas. I had a dream about the time we fought. I've had the dream before, but this time, it ended differently. There was someone else there."

"Who was it?" Jiminy asked.

Sora shook his head. "I don't know. He kind of reminded me of someone Donald, Goofy and I fought once, but he was different somehow. He seemed...familiar."

Jiminy frowned. "But you've never seen him before?"

"No." said Sora with a sigh. "It's almost like how I felt when I met Namine. I knew in my heart that I had met her before, but I couldn't remember her."

"I'm bringing us out of warp." Riku said from the pilot's seat. He pulled back on the lever and the swirling colors of warp speed faded outside the canopy.

WHAM!

The ship suddenly lurched, sending all of its occupants flying to one side, except for Riku who somehow managed to keep his seat.

Donald popped up out of the lower hatch, rubbing his head and looking very put out. "Hey! What's the big idea?" he demanded.

Riku cursed. "Meteor shower. Figures it'd be right where we appeared. Strap in. This could get bumpy."

The ship's speakers suddenly crackled and a monotone voice spoke out, "_Attention, unidentified vehicle. You are in a restricted area. Pull over immediately_."

Riku keyed the comm and laughed humorlessly. "How are we supposed to pull over, you idiot? We're in the middle of a meteor shower!"

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment. Then a laser blast shot by the canopy and blasted a meteor. The source was a small vehicle manned by a robot dressed like a police man. A second vehicle pulled up on the other side. "_We will clear you a path. Do not deviate from it._"

Riku sighed and switched off the comm. "Well this is a glorious start to our adventure."

As the three ships left the field, none of them saw the ominous form of the _Flying Dutchman_ sailing out from behind a large asteroid and sinking into a portal of Darkness.

* * *

"You're impounding our ship?" Sora shouted at the two robotic police men. They had landed on a world called Montressor where they had been hit with the unfair news.. "On what charges?"

One of the robot policemen turned to him after handing the _Highwind_ over to a hovering tow-truck. "Space Travel Violation 57 dash...uh..."

"B." The other robot supplied.

Robot 1 made a sound very much like a sigh and muttered. "Thank you. You crossed a crime scene. Your-"

"Wait a minute," said Sora, "Slow down. Crime scene?"

"Yes sir. A planet was destroyed by unnatural means. We suspect Heartless involvement."

"HEARTLESS?" they all exclaimed.

Robot 1 paid them no heed. "Your ship will be impounded until you can pay the fee."

Riku crossed his arms. "How much?"

"900 munny."

"WAK!" Donald exclaimed. "How in the world are we supposed to come up with that, ya big palooka?"

"Not our problem, sir." both robots said together.

Kairi, the most diplomatic of the group, stepped in front of the fuming men. "Well...uh...Officers, can you at least tell us somewhere where we can stay until we can come up with the munny?"

The robots glanced at each other. "There's a place not too far from here." Robot 2 said after a moment.

"The Benbow Inn."

"We have to go there alot."

Riku's eyes narrowed. "To stay?"

Again the Robots looked at each other. "Not exactly." they said as one.

Robot 1's hat lifted from its head on a mechanism, in an almost comical parody of a human policeman tipping his hat. "You take care now. Let's motor." With that, they spun on their wheels and left."

Sora sighed and made off down the road, the way the robots had indicated, followed by the others. "Great. This is fantastic. We're supposed to be out saving the universe and our freakin' ship gets impounded. And, to top it all off, the Heartless destroyed another world."

"Aw, it'll be okay!" Goofy said. "We just gotta think positive! Let's all sing a song! _Do ya need a break from modern livin'? Do ya long to shed your weary load_..."

"Goofy would you _please_ stop singing?" Riku and Donald said together.

Suddenly, there was a roar from overhead. They all looked up in time to see a ship tear down through the clouds, flames licking at its engines.

"It's going to crash!" Kairi exclaimed. "Come on!"

They ran down the road, following the trail of smoke still hanging in the air. As they rounded a corner, they found the ship. It had crash landed on a metal pier, jutting out of a long cliff, at the end of which lay a little inn.

Sora and the others ran up towards it as fast as they could. They could see, coming from the direction of the inn, a young man, roughly Riku's age with brown hair, wearing baggy brown pants and a black jacket. They reached the ship at the same time. "Do you know this ship?" The boy asked sharply.

"No!" Sora said. "We just saw it coming down and-" But the boy wasn't listening. He knocked on the ship's battered door. "Hey, mister? You're okay in there, right?"

A scaly, clawed had slammed against the window, causing the boy to leap backwards. The door shot open, emitting a copious cloud of smoke, as well as a coughing, hacking being. It was unlike anything Sora had ever seen. Most of its body was wrapped in a dark cloak, but its head and long neck were like that of a snapping turtle. On its head, it wore an over-sized hat, reminding Sora of what he had seen some of the people in Port Royal wearing. The being reached out with one long arm and grabbed Sora by his shirt. "He's a comin'" it said in a raspy voice. "Can ye hear him? Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirlin' like the devil himself!"

The boy pulled Sora back as the being fell into another coughing fit. "Uh...Hit your head pretty hard there, didn't ya?"

The being took no notice of this. He turned and, with some effort, picked up a large chest that had been hidden under his cloak. "He's after me chest! That fiendish cyborg and his band o' cut-throats! But they'll have to pry it from ol' Billy Bones' cold, dead fingers afore I-ACK!" Bones fell to the ground, coughing, but still clutching the chest.

"He's hurt badly!" Kairi said. "We have to get him inside!"

The boy nodded and pointed at Riku. "You, help me! Get his other arm."

To his credit, Riku didn't even look put out at being ordered around. He grabbed Bones' arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Mom's gonna love this." the boy muttered sarcastically.

Sora took the chest and carried it behind them, wondering what could be inside that was so important.

* * *

The first thing Riku heard as the door opened was a woman's shrill voice shouting, "JAMES PLEIADES HAWKINS!" Standing in the doorway was a woman in a long dress who looked enough like the boy to be his mother. Behind her was a tall, thin man who looked like a dog.

James and Riku deposited Billy Bones on the floor as gently as they could. He gasped for air and reached his hand out. "Me chest!" he rasped. Sora nervously set the chest before Bones and stepped away, ready to call the Keyblade if necessary. Bones, meanwhile, typed a key sequence on it. "He'll be comin' soon. Can't let him get this." With a beep, the chest popped open and Bones pulled out a round bundle of cloth.

"Who's coming?" James asked.

Bones grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "The Cyborg..." he whispered. "Beware...the Cyborg..." With one last raspy breath, he fell to the ground, dead.

Goofy bowed his head and took off his hat in respect.

"I wonder what he meant by that." Donald said curiously.

Then, for the second time that evening, the roar of a ship's engines was heard overhead. It swooped in quickly and landed right in front of the inn. Riku and James ran over and peeked outside. Through the darkness, they could see several tall dark shapes, and around there feet, smaller ones with glowing yellow eyes.

"Come on!" Riku said, running for the stairs.

"Who are they?" Donald asked.

"I don't know. But they've got Heartless with them."

Several bright blue beams lanced through the door and windows, forcing everyone to duck. One beam hit a chandelier, sending it crashing to the floor.

"I believe I'm with the young man on this one!" the dog-man exclaimed, following Riku and James.

Sora grabbed Mrs. Hawkins and pulled her along with him.

As they made their way upstairs, several Shadow and Neo Shadow Heartless appeared before them, but Kairi fired a Thunder spell, making short work of them. One appeared behind her and reared to pounce, but James spin-kicked it into a wall, destroying it.

"Thanks, James." Kairi said, blushing slightly.

The boy smiled. "Call me Jim."

Sora and Riku both rolled their eyes.

"Find it, you scallywags!" screamed a rough voice from downstairs.

"Hurry!" the Dog-Man yelled, yanking a large window open. "I have a carriage we can use!" He took Mrs. Hawkins' hand and helped her up onto the windowsill.

"Delbert I-"

"Don't worry, Sarah." he assured. "I'm an expert in the laws of Physics! On the count of three. One-"

"Three!" shouted Jim, shoving them out the window and jumping after them. Sora and the others quickly followed.

As they rode away in Delbert's carriage, Mrs. Hawkins looked back to see the inn, engulfed in flames. She sighed and bowed her head in grief.

Meanwhile, Jim pulled the bundle Bones had given him from his pocket and unwrapped it. Inside was a small gold sphere, covered in strange markings.

"What is it?" Kairi asked.

Jim just shook his head.

* * *

As they sat by a fire in Delbert's house, everyone finally got to make their introductions. "Wait a minute, you're _the_ Sora?" Jim asked.

Sora blinked, amazed that the boy had heard of him. "Uh...yeah." He held out his hand and summoned the Keyblade as proof. Jim's eyes went wide. "Where did you hear about me?" Sora asked.

"From spacers who used to pass through the inn. They say that you're all the people on Radiant Garden talk about. Did you really beat Organization XIII?"

Sora grinned. "Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without my friends."

At that moment, Delbert, properly known as Dr. Doppler, came into the room, sighing. "I spoke with the Constabulary." he said. "Those blasted Pirates and their Heartless fled without a trace." He walked over to Mrs. Hawkins, who hadn't moved from her spot by the fire or spoken since they had arrived. "I'm...I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm afraid the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground."

Goofy put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Gawrsh, I sure am awful sorry, Mrs. Hawkins." he said sadly.

Riku crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. "I wonder what they wanted that sphere so badly for."

"I don't know." Doppler admitted. Jim had picked the sphere up off the table and began twisting it and pressing buttons on its surface. "Even with my vast intelligence and experience, it would take me years to decipher-Hey!"

The room had suddenly gone dark and glowing green shapes had sprung out of the sphere. All around them, now, were the shapes of stars and planets.

"Wow..." Donald said, his beak hanging open. "It's a map!"

"Wait!" Doppler exclaimed, examining one of the planets. "This is us! The planet Montressor!"

"Here's Twilight Town!" Sora said. "And Wonderland! And Atlantica!"

"Look!" said Goofy exuberantly. "It's Disney Castle! Ahyuk! Hiya, everyone back home!"

Doppler tapped the shape of Montressor and the hologram sprang forward, with yellow lines tracing a path through the stars. "That's Olympus! And here's Radiant Garden! And...what's this?" He adjusted his glasses to look at a large shape that now dominated the center of the room. It was a planet with two sets of rings crossing it. "It's...It's..."

Jim's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "Treasure Planet..." he said.

"NO!" Doppler gasped incredulously. Donald's eyes sparkled at the mention of the word 'Treasure' and he stood, gaping at the planet.

"That's Treasure Planet!" Jim said, laughing.

"Captain Flint's Trove...The loot of a thousand worlds..." Doppler shook his head. "Do you know what this means?"

"Wait a minute." said Kairi. "What is this? I've never heard of any 'Treasure Planet.'"

"I have!" Sora exclaimed. "I heard the story from Captain Jack back on Port Royal!"

_"There's an old Pirate Legend,"_ the eternally inebriated Captain had told him, _"what tells about an old scallywag called Flint and his crew of miscreants. Legend says they could appear at a port, raid, pillage and plunder their weasly black guts out and vanish without a trace, savvy? Well ol' Flint's ship got so loaded with booty that he had to find a place to store it all. So, they found an island where they buried it. And there it remains to this day. The Pirate that finds Flint's Trove would be richer than all the kings and emperors in the world. Think of all the rum you could buy! As soon as I get the Pearl back, mate, I'll be goin' after it meself."_

"But it wasn't just an island, was it? It was an entire planet!" Sora said excitedly.

Jim ran over to Mrs. Hawkins. "Mom, this is the answer to all our problems! We could rebuild the Benbow a hundred times over if we wanted to! And we could even get their ship out of impound! Heck, we could get every ship in the galaxy out of impound and still have more that we'd know what to do with!"

"I could take my place atop the pantheon of great explorers!" Doppler said dramatically. "I could experience-"

"Hold it." Riku said. He and Mrs. Hawkins alone seemed less than enthused. "This treasure sounds like bad news. Billy Bones died for it and those pirates burned your Inn to the ground to get at it. Do you really think you'll be able to just fly up and claim it?"

"Thank you, Riku." Mrs. Hawkins said. "It's good to know that at least one young person here has some sense. Delbert, tell them how ridiculous this is."

"It's totally preposterous, you kids traveling across the galaxy all by yourselves." he said pompously.

"Kids?" Sora and Jim exclaimed angrily.

Doppler grinned suddenly. "That's why I'm going with you!"

"Delbert!" Mrs. Hawkins said in a horrified voice.

Doppler grabbed a bag and began sweeping various books and tools into it. "I'll use my savings to finance an expedition! I'll hire a ship and a crew!"

"You're not serious." Riku said.

"Riku," Kairi said gently, "this is the only chance we've got to get our ship back. And besides, if these pirates have got the Heartless on their side, we can't exactly ignore this."

Riku rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why are you always right?" he asked with a sigh.

Kairi grinned. "I'm a Princess, silly. Princesses are never wrong."

"Mom," Jim said, taking Mrs. Hawkins' hand. "I know I keep messing everything up. And I know I've disappointed you. But this is my chance to make it up to you. I'm going to set things right."

Doppler put his arm around her and drew her a short ways away. "Sarah, you said yourself, you've tried everything. Even if there's no treasure, he can only benefit from some character-building time in space."

She gave him a piercing look. "Are you saying this because it's the right thing, or because you really want to go?"

Doppler smiled sheepishly. "I really, really, really, _really_ want to go...And it's the right thing."

Mrs. Hawkins drew a long breath and turned back to her son. "Jim..." she said. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't, Mrs. Hawkins." Sora said, putting his arms around Riku and Kairi's shoulders. "We've dealt with Pirates and Heartless and much worse for the last three years. We'll look after him."

Jim smiled. "I'll make you proud, mom."

Mrs. Hawkins finally smiled and they knew she agreed.

"Well," said Doppler, "I'll begin our preparations at once. And then, we'll be off to the Space Port!"


	4. Mr Silver

**NOTES** - Another day, another chapter. Please toss me some reviews. I even appreciate brutal honesty.

* * *

The World That Never Was; Once, home to Organization XIII. Now, though, the massive black thorny vines which grew all throughout the city marked its new master. The castle which hovered at the city's center had undergone a transformation of its own. Its stark white walls were now pitch black and the Organization's symbols had been replaced with fearsome gargoyles.

Within its walls, Maleficent sat back in her throne and interlaced her long fingers before her. "So it is true? They really have found the map to the fabled Treasure Planet?" she asked the image of the dark figure before her.

"Aye, that they have." the figure said. "And what's better, I've managed to finagle me and me crew a berth aboard the ship that'll take 'em there."

A smile spread across the witch's dragon-like face. "Excellent. You have done well, my friend." she said. "When you get there, the treasure is yours. But do not forget to find the item I need. Use my Heartless to get it if you must. But we wary. Those who foolishly overuse their powers find themselves consumed by that which they sought to control."

The figure chuckled, and as he did, a strange mechanical whirring sound emanated from his body. "Ye needn't worry about me. I'll be as careful as I can. Now, if there'll be naught else..."

"One last thing." Maleficent said. "You may kill anyone you wish, but leave the Keyblade Masters alive. They are mine."

The figure bowed. "Who be a humble Cyborg to question the Mistress of All Evil?"

As the image faded, Maleficent's smile vanished. "Repulsive creature." she muttered. "Pete!"

A crash came from the next room and a moment later, her less-than-intelligent lackey hobbled in, holding his knee and wincing. "You...Ouch! You called, your wickedness?"

Maleficent sighed in an unamused fashion. "I do not trust our new...associate. Go. Take a ship and follow the vessel carrying them to Treasure Planet. At the first sign of treachery, steal that map. We will find it ourselves if we must."

Hades, who had remained silent (for once) watched Pete go and then stood from his position leaning on the wall. "I don't get it." he said. "Why not just nab the map and go after it ourselves anyways?"

Maleficent smiled and stroked the chest of her ever-present Raven, Diablo. "All in due time, Hades. You will know all in due time."

* * *

As the small transport landed, Donald glared angrily at Sora. "I don't understand why me and Goofy can't come along." 

Sora laughed. This was at least the fifth time the Duck had made this same complaint. "Because, Donald," he said as he had the last four times, "you don't do so well around vast treasures. Remember the Cave of Wonders?" Donald growled something angrily in Duckish. "And besides," Sora continued, "someone needs to stay behind and guard Mrs. Hawkins."

Goofy gave him a sad look. "Gawrsh, we sure will miss you, Sora."

Sora smiled at his friends. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon with enough munny to get our ship back."

Not far away, Mrs. Hawkins was saying a tearful goodbye to Jim. "Promise me you'll be careful." she whispered.

Jim nodded. "I will, mom."

They disembarked soon after and began making their way through the crowded streets of the Space Port. After only getting lost once (thanks to Dr. Doppler) they finally arrived at their destination.

"There she is!" Doppler said. "The R.L.S. Legacy!"

"Woah..." Sora said and it was an apt declaration to make. The vessel looked like a huge clipper ship, with massive Solar Sails and Gummi Engines tucked underneath.

As they reached the top of the gangplank, they heard a deep, commanding voice bellowing, "Haul those casks forward! Heave together, now!"

The man giving the orders was a burly fellow who looked as if he were literally made of stone. He wore a crisp red and white uniform and a gold-trimmed black hat.

"Ahoy, Captain!" Sora shouted cheerfully. "Crewmen, reporting for duty!"

The man chuckled. "Welcome aboard. But I'm not the Captain. The Captain is aloft."

Everyone looked up as a blue, white and tan blur shot across the mast, flipped through the air and landed before them. Sora, Riku, Jim and Doppler stoop, agape at the sight of shapely feline woman. Kairi grinned and said, "A woman Captain? Cool!"

The Captain walked up to the uniformed man and raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable heap from stem to stern and as usual...It's spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?"

Mr. Arrow smiled and tipped his hat. "You flatter me, Captain."

She turned to the group and smirked. "Ah. Dr. Doppler, I presume?"

"Y-Yes I'm Delbert Dopp-" Doppler stammered.

"Captain Amelia. Late, I've had a few run-ins with the Heartless Armada, but I won't bore you with my scars. You've already met my first officer, Mr. Arrow; Sterling, dependable, tough, brave and true."

"Please, Captain." Arrow said.

Amelia waved him off. "Oh shut up, Arrow. You know I don't mean a word of it." She winked at him.

"Ahem." Doppler said, sounding put-out. "If you're finished, I'd like to introduce Sora, Riku and Kairi. They're to be joining us. And this is Jim Hawkins. He's the one who found the treas-"

Amelia clapped a hand over his mouth. "Please, Doctor." she hissed. "If you don't mind, I'd like a word with all of you in my stateroom."

Doppler huffed angrily, but followed her, as did Mr. Arrow and the others. After they were securely locked inside, she turned to them crisply. "Now, Doctor," she said. "To blather about a treasure map in front of this particular crew, demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic...And I mean that in a very caring way."

"Imbecilic..." whispered Doppler, infuriated.

"You think they'd mutiny to get the map?" Riku asked.

Amelia smiled coyly. "I know they would. Didn't you get a good look at them? And, if I were you three, I'd keep tight about being famous Keyblade Masters. Particularly you, Sora. You are wanted dead by a very nasty witch and I wouldn't put it past any of these miscreants to sell you to her. Now," she turned to Jim. "May I see the map?"

Jim sighed and tossed it to her. "Here."

She caught it with one hand and looked it over. "Facinating..." she said. She spun on her heel and opened a cabinet set into the wall. "Mr. Hawkins, and the rest of you," she said as she placed the map in a chest and locked it up, "in the future, you will address me as 'Captain' or 'Ma'am.' Am I clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Sora, Riku and Kairi said. Jim only grumbled.

"Mr. Hawkins?" Amelia said dangerously.

Jim glared at her and muttered. "Yes, ma'am."

Amelia nodded. "That'll do. Now, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use. And, Doctor, again, with the utmost respect, zip your howling screamer. I don't much care for this crew you've hired. They're...how did I describe them, Arrow? I said something rather good before coffee this morning..."

Arrow cleared his throat. "A 'ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots,' ma'am."

"There you go, poetry. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, tea, cake, the whole shebang, but I have a ship to launch. You four, galactic heroes though some of you may be, while on my vessel, will serve a function. Kairi, you will be my assistant. Whatever, I need personally done, you will do. Riku, I understand you're pretty handy behind the wheel, so you will be my helmsman. Sora-"

"Let me guess," said Sora, grinning and putting his hands behind his head, "Gunner?"

Amelia laughed humorlessly. "Cute. You will join Mr. Hawkins down in the galley where you will be working for our cook, Mr. Silver."

"Wait, what?" Jim said. "The cook?"

* * *

"Who exactly does she think she is?" Sora asked angrily as Mr. Arrow led them down to the galley. "WE hired HER." 

"I know!" exclaimed Jim. "It's MY map and she's got me bussing tables!"

Two burly hands clamped down on their shoulders. "I'll not tolerate a cross word about our captain!" Arrow snapped. "There's no finer officer in this or any galaxy! Mr. Silver!"

"Why, Mr. Arrow, sir, if I'd known you was bringin' such fine-looking, distinguished gents to grace me humble galley, I'd'a tucked in me shirt."

Sora looked up. Stepping out into the brighter light was a man who made him gasp. His left arm and leg were whirring metallic contraptions and his left eye was a glowing golden mechanical piece.

"A cyborg..." Jim whispered.

"May I introduce, Sora, a passenger on our voyage." Arrow said.

A bright red beam shot from Silver's mechanical eye and swept over Sora's baggy clothes and trademark large shoes. "Love the outfit, Sora." Silver said with a chuckle.

"And this," Arrow continued, "is Jim Hawkins."

Silver stuck out his mechanical hand. "Jimbo! Put 'er there!"

Jim looked down at the arm, and then back up at Silver, his eyes narrowing mistrustfully.

Silver smiled. "Now, Jimbo, don't be too put off by this hunk o' hardware. These gears have been mighty hard gettin' used to, but they do come in handy from time-to-time."

Sora picked up a spoon and began twirling it between his fingers, but suddenly, it _giggled_. He gasped as it shifted and became a blob of pink goo with little eyes and a mouth.

"Morph!" chuckled Silver. "You jiggle-headed blob o' mischief! So that's where you was hidin'!"

"Woah!" said Jim as Morph flew up to him, jibbering happily. "What is that thing?"

Morph giggled and repeated "What is that thing," transforming into a tiny model of Jim.

"He's a Morph." Silver said. The little creature again became a blob and flew over to Silver. "I rescued the little fella in Wonderland and he took a shine to me. We've been together ever since."

A bell sounded from above and Arrow said, "We're about to get underway. I must go see to the launch. Sora and Mr. Hawkins will be in your charge, Silver. See to it that they're kept busy. Captain's orders."

As he left, Silver looked at the boys, rubbing his chin. "So, Captain's put you lads with me, eh?"

Sora sighed. "Whatever."

Silver shrugged. "Who be a humble cyborg to argue with the Captain?"

At the mention of Silver's cyborg nature, Sora and Jim glanced at each other. Sora nodded. Jim put on his best poker face and leaned casually on the counter. "So, these other guys on the crew...They remind me of the kind I used to see back home...on Montressor. You ever been there?"

"Can't say as I have, Jimbo." Silver said, turning to cut some vegetables.

"Come to think of it," Sora said, "before we left, we met this old spacer who was looking for a cyborg."

"Is that so?" Silver asked with polite interest.

"Yeah." said Sora. "What was his name again, Jim?"

Jim pretended to think for a moment. "Uh...Oh yeah. Bones. Billy Bones."

Silver frowned. "Bones? Well, me memory ain't what it used to be, but the name don't ring any bells. Musta been a different cyborg. Ol' Silver ain't the only one around, ye know!" he gave a hearty chuckle and smiled at the boys. "Go on. Off with ye, lads. Go watch the launch. There'll be plenty o' work waitin' for ye afterwards." As the boys turned to leave, Silver watched them with his cyborg eye. Morph flew up giggling, having gotten ahold of a cracker. "Best be keepin' a sharp eye on them, Morphy." he said quietly. "Wouldn't want 'em gettin' into things they shouldn't."

* * *

"All moorings are clear, Captain!" shouted Kairi from the Crow's Nest. 

Amelia smiled. "Well, Mr. Arrow, are we ready to move this creaking tub?"

"My pleasure, Captain." said Arrow. He took a deep breath and adopted his 'Shouting Orders' tone. "All hands to stations! Loose all Solar Sails! Charge the Gummi capacitors!"

Sora and Jim gasped as they found themselves floating off the deck.

"Engage artificial gravity!" Amelia shouted. Everyone touched back down softly except for Doppler who fell on his head. Amelia turned to the helm. "South-by-southwest, Mr. Riku. Heading 21-00. Full speed, if you please."

"Aye, Captain." Riku said, giving a rare smile.

With a roar, the engines came to life and the Legacy soared off into space.

"Ah, Cap'n," said Silver, emerging from the galley and sweeping off his hat, "You're lookin' as fine as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat o' paint!"

Amelia pursed her lips. "You can keep that kind of talk for your space port floozies, Silver."

Morph giggled, turned into a tiny version of the Captain, and began singing "Space port floozies! Space port floozies!" until Silver swept him under his hat. "You cut me to the quick, Cap'n! I speaks nothin' but me heart at all times!"

Amelia looked up to where Sora and Jim were lounging around, talking to Kairi. "And...uh...aren't those _your_ cabin-boys flirting with my assistant over there?"

Silver sighed. "A momentary aberration, Cap'n, soon to be addressed." He put his hands on his hips. "Jimbo! Sora!"

Riku smiled. "You're don't like Sora, do you, ma'am?" he asked.

Amelia glanced at him. "It's not that I don't like him, Mr. Riku. But he's far too over-eager and, like Mr. Hawkins, incredibly undisciplined. He's certainly not what I expected from all the stories. Honestly, when you all first came aboard, I assumed that you were Sora."

Riku smiled proudly. "Thanks."

* * *

"Uh oh." said Sora as Silver made his way towards them. "Busted." 

Silver smiled evilly. "I'd like you boys to meet some friends of mine. Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket." He tossed them the items as he named them.

Sora sighed and made puppy-dog eyes at Kairi. "I don't suppose you want to help us?"

Kairi smiled. "Sorry." she said airily. "I have to wait for the Captain's orders. But I'll provide moral support."

"Yeah I got your moral support right here." Jim muttered, angrily dipping the mop into the water and beginning his mopping. Sora sighed and also began mopping. Jim glanced up at a group of crewmen, huddled together and talking. He only became interested when he heard the word "Heartless." But then, they noticed him and stopped abruptly. "What are you lookin' at?" one of them demanded.

A frightening creature who looked like a cross between a spider and a crab dropped down in front of him and advanced menacingly. "Cabin boys should learn to mind their own businesssss." it hissed.

Jim was obviously scared, but he managed a smirk. "Why? You got something to hide, bright-eyes?"

The creature growled and grabbed him by the shirt. "Maybe your earssss don't work so well."

"Yeah," Jim said in a strained voice, "too bad my nose works just fine."

"Why you impudent little wretch!"

Sora dropped his mop and held his hand out to summon the Keyblade, but Kairi grabbed his wrist. "No!" she whispered. "Remember what the Captain said?"

At that moment, a mechanical hand grabbed one of the creature's claws. "Mr. Scroop," Silver said, holding up a purple piece of fruit with his real hand. "Have you ever seen what happens to a fresh purp...when you squeeze real hard?" Scroop cried out and dropped Jim as Silver's grip tightened.

"What's all this, then?" snapped Arrow as he strode up. The crewmen who had gathered to see the fight scattered, all except for Scrop, Silver and the boys. "You know the rules. There will be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage. Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"

Scroop growled menacingly, but at a glare from Silver, muttered, "Transparently, _sir._"

Silver picked up Jim's mop from the deck. "I gave you a job to do, Jimbo!" he snapped.

"Hey! I was doing it until that bug thing-"

"Belay that!" Silver bellowed. "Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless! And heaven help ya if I come back and it's not done! The same goes for you, Sora! Morph?" the little creature flew out from underneath his hat and gave a salute. "Keep an eye on these here pups. Let me know if there be any more distractions." He stalked off, leaving the boys looking very angry. Morph, meanwhile, became a giant pair of eyes, one watching Jim and the other watching Sora.

* * *

It was time for the night watch when Sora and Jim finally threw down their mops. "Well this was a fun day." Jim said. "Making new friends, like that Spider psycho." 

Morph giggled and turned into a tiny Scroop who raised his claws and said "Spider psycho! Spider psycho!"

Sora laughed. "I think he's a little uglier than that."

'Scroop' screwed up his face and then cackled evilly, his eyes spinning wildly.

"So, you never told me." said Sora to Jim, "what was it you overheard those guys saying?"

Jim looked around (and up) to make sure that nobody was listening. "I didn't hear everything, but I heard them mention the Heartless."

Sora frowned. "Huh. Well, I guess they could have just been trading stories. I mean, the Heartless aren't exactly a secret."

"Yeah," said Jim as Morph turned into a Shadow and began stalking around, making tiny 'menacing' noises, "but then why would they have cared if I overheard?"

"Well, thank the stars fer little miracles." said Silver, walking up. "I come back here and the deck's still in one piece."

Jim sighed and decided to swallow his pride. "Listen...what you did for me today...thanks."

Silver looked at him and shook his head. "Didn't yer pap ever teach ye to pick yer fights more carefully?"

Jim didn't answer. His face grew sullen and he leaned on the railing. Sora knew that look all too well.

"Yer father..." said Silver. "Not the teachin' sort, I take it."

Jim looked out at the passing stars. "No." he said bitterly. "He was more the taking off and never coming back sort."

Sora leaned next to him. "Mine too." he said. "I never even knew him."

Silver smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, lads."

Jim shrugged. "Hey, no big deal. I'm doing just fine."

Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if they didn't feel like sticking around, who needs 'em?"

Silver grinned manically. "Well, since the Cap'n's put you lads in my charge, like it or not, I'll be poundin' a few skills into those thick skulls o' yours."

"What?" Sora and Jim both demanded.

"From now on," Silver said importantly, "I'm not lettin' either o' you out o' me sight! You won't eat, sleep or scratch yer bum without my say-so!"

"Hey, don't do us any favors!" Sora growled angrily.

Silver grinned wider. "Oh, you can be sure o' that, lad. You can be sure o' that..."


	5. Insurrection

**NOTES** - _Don't really have anything to say other than read and review pleeeeeeease!_

* * *

Pete grumbled as he sat in his Gummi Ship, shadowing the _Legacy._ Ever since he had caught up to them, he had been forced to find increasingly creative ways of not being seen. He had finally caught a lucky break when the ship crossed paths with a vast nebula. This would give him a place to hide for several days. But that didn't make it interesting. He had tried everything he could think of to keep himself entertained. He had even picked up a book until he remembered he couldn't read. He sighed and stared out the canopy. Then he blinked. For a moment, he could have sworn that he could see the shape of another ship beside him. But when he rubbed his eyes, it had gone. "I need ta get more sleep." he muttered.

* * *

Sora sat next to the helm, finally enjoying some time to relax. Jim and Silver had gone out joy-riding in one of the Legacy's skiffs. They had invited him to go along, but he had declined, not having had real time to talk to Riku or Kairi in almost a week. Still, he had to admit, the old Cyborg was growing on him, despite all the hard work he made them do. 

Almost as if he were reading Sora's thoughts, Riku looked down at him and said, "Hey, don't get too chummy with Silver."

Sora frowned. "Why not? He's a good guy. Haven't you seen the kind of change he's made in Jim?"

"He's a Cyborg."

Sora stood up angrily. "So what? He's not the only one in the universe."

Riku shook his head at his friend's naivety. "Sora, would you use your brain instead of your mouth for once? Bones warned us to beware of a Cyborg before he gave Jim the map. Then, on the voyage to find what the map leads to, there just happens to be a Cyborg? Come on. They can't be _that_ common."

"You just don't trust anyone." Sora yelled. "You never have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riku demanded, matching his tone of voice.

"Now what be all this?" asked Silver as he and Jim ascended to join them. "Do I sense a bit o' dissension in the ranks?"

"No." said Sora coldly. "Riku's just doing what he does best."

Riku opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly, the gas of the nebula off to the port side burst upwards as a dark vessel rose to meet them.

"What the devil is that?" Silver asked.

Riku felt his pulse quicken as he recognized the ship. "It's the_ Flying Dutchman_!" he shouted. The eyes of every one of the crew widened as they recalled the stories they had heard of the devil ship.

"Evasive action, Mr. Riku!" Amelia shouted, racing up to join them on the top deck.

Riku was already acting before he was even ordered. He swung the wheel around just as the Dutchman's guns opened fire.

Sora gasped as, dark fireballs shot from the cannons. "Bad news!" he shouted to Riku. "They've upgraded their weapons!"

"Great." Riku muttered, pulling the ship into another evasive pattern. The Dutchman was now directly behind them and out of the firing arc...or so Riku thought.

* * *

Davy Jones smirked as he looked upon the fleeing vessel. So, the boy could pilot a ship. He turned to his shark-headed first officer. "Let them taste the triple guns." he ordered. 

The other grinned and bellowed, "Forward guns!"

* * *

The ship pitched suddenly, as the Dutchman's gunners found their mark. 

"Fasten all lifelines!" Mr. Arrow shouted.

Every available crewman ran to grab a rope and tie it around their waist.

As Sora and Kairi secured their own, dark blobs began appearing on the deck of the ship. Silver's biological eye widened. "It can't be..." he whispered, heard only by Riku.

Amelia took in the situation in a matter of seconds. "Riku, I'll take the Helm! Sora, Kairi, we don't have a choice any longer!"

Sora nodded, knowing what she was saying. He took a deep breath and summoned the Keyblade. Dropping into the weapon's familiar feel, he leaped forward and smashed the nearest Shadow into dust. Kairi swung her own blade in an arc, creating an Aero spell that flung several of the creatures off into space. Riku defended the upper deck with Dark Firagas and Barriers. Nearby, Silver was tearing Heartless to ribbons with the cutlass that his cyborg arm had become and he was looking angrier than anyone had ever seen him.

Meanwhile, Doppler was busy studying the sensor readouts. "That's it!" he shouted suddenly. "Captain, this nebula is pure liquified Gummi! If we can pull enough of it into our engines-"

"Of course!" Amelia exclaimed. "It would give us a tremendous boost! Mr. Arrow, open the lower intake hatches! Mr. Hawkins, make sure all those lifelines are secure!"

"Aye, Captain!" Jim shouted, pausing only to dodge a Pirate Heartless' sword swing and punch it across the deck. He yanked on every lifeline, tightening all those that needed to be tightened. As he checked the last one, he shouted up to Amelia, "Lifelines secured, Captain!"

Sora swiped his Keyblade through the final Heartless just as another cannon blast rocked the ship. Mr. Arrow, who had just pummeled a Large Body into nothingness was hurled over the side with a startled cry. Fortunately, his lifeline caught him. He breathed a sigh of relief and began pulling himself back. But then, a sinister form stepped up to the railing. Scroop raised one claw and, giving Arrow an evil smile and a mock salute, snipped the rope. Arrow's screams were lost as the Legacy's engines suddenly glowed brightly and the ship soared out of sight like a shooting star.

Jones stared expressionlessly at the diminishing dot that was the Legacy. All the crew had fallen silent in fear of the inevitable outburst of wrath, but to their shock, he merely turned and strode down to the lower deck and made his way towards his cabin.

"Captain!" a crewman shouted, pointing over the side of the ship. "There is a man who was thrown overboard!"

Jones stopped, but did not turn. He could feel the man's life force ebbing away. "You're wrong." he said coldly. "There is nobody there who is among the living."

The First Officer grinned and nodded at the crewman. "You heard the captain, Mr. Turner."

Mr. Turner, an almost human looking man with barnacles encrusting his face, sighed and aimed a canon at the diminishing form of Mr. Arrow. "I'm sorry, friend. But trust me. You're getting the better fate." he whispered sincerely.

Mr. Arrow's eyes fluttered open just in time to see the dark fireball racing towards him. He felt no pain and no fear as it engulfed him.

* * *

Pete sat, slack-jawed, as the Dutchman vanished. No matter how many different ways he thought about it, he still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened. Why, he wondered, would Maleficent order him to follow the Legacy and then order Jones to destroy it without at least telling him first? 

"I never shoulda left da steamboat business." he muttered. Truth be told, he hated Maleficent. He thought she was creepy beyond words. And all this crap she made him do! He never got any thanks for it!

"Then serve me instead."

Pete jumped up, hit his head, fell ingloriously on his backside, and then finally managed to stand and spin with his fists raised. Standing at the back of the ship's cockpit was a strange man. He was completely bald, a grey goatee being the only hair on his head. He had a sharp, hawk-like face with unnatural molten orange eyes. "Who da heck are you and how'd you get aboard my ship?" Pete demanded.

The man's face contorted into a cruel smile. He spoke his name and Pete's eyes went wide with fear and awe.

* * *

The deck of the Legacy was a tumult of cheers as the elation of their escape filled the crew. "Captain...That was...absolutely...It was the most..." Doppler stuttered, sounding amazed. 

"Oh don't make a scene, Doctor." she said, calmly bringing her telescope to her eye. "Actually, your astronomical advice was most helpful."

Doppler blushed. "Oh...Thank you...Well I have a lot of help to offer anatomically-I mean astronomically!"

Amelia smiled at him and went down to where Silver, Jim and the Keyblade Masters were standing. "I must congratulate you, Sora, Riku and Kairi. If you hadn't fought off those Heartless, we'd have never escaped. And you, Mr. Hawkins, did a bang-up job securing those lifelines." Silver smiled proudly down at Jim. "All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" Amelia called out. A deafening silence fell as everyone looked around for the first officer.

Scroop climbed down from the mast, his face set in a less-than-convincing look of mourning. "I'm afraid...Mr. Arrow has been lost." he said. "His lifeline was not secured."

Every single eye fell on Jim whose face was filled with panic. "No!" he exclaimed. "I checked them all!" He ran over to where the lifelines were fastened...and found one was missing. "I...I did...I checked them all...they were secure...I swear."

Amelia gazed at him, her eyes filled with sadness and disappointment. Silver frowned. He knew that there had to be some mistake. Jim could tie knots that put his own to shame. He happened to glance at Scroop. He was startled to catch the arachnid indulging in a small smirk while nobody was looking. He glared angrily at the crewman, a look which clearly said, "I'll deal with you later."

Amelia, meanwhile, cleared her throat and, with some difficulty, said, "Mr. Arrow was a fine spacer. Finer...than any of us could ever hope to be...But he knew the risks, as do we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."

Later that night, Kairi and Silver found Jim leaning dejectedly on the railing and staring at the stars. "Jim!" she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." she insisted. "We would all be dead if you hadn't-"

"Look, don't you get it?" Jim snapped, throwing her hand off, "I screwed up, alright? I thought for two seconds that I could do something right, but...ARGH! Forget it..."

Kairi looked pleadingly at Silver who sighed and motioned for her to leave. He firmly spun Jim around to face him. "Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins." he said sternly. "Ya got the makins' o' greatness in ya'! But ya gotta take the helm and chart yer own course! Stick to it! No matter the squalls! And when the time comes for ye to test the cut o' yer sails and show what yer made of...well...I hope I'm there, catchin' some o' the light comin' off o' ya that day." Jim's eyes filled with tears as the kind words reached him and he fell against the cyborg, his body shaking with sobs. Silver smiled kindly and patted him on the back. "There...That's alright, eh Jimbo? It's alright." He suddenly realized that there could be crewmen still about. He cleared his throat. "Now..uh...I best be gettin' about my watch. And you'd best be gettin' some shut-eye."

Jim smiled at him. "Silver...thanks." Feeling better, he went below.

Morph flew up and nuzzled against Silver's cheek. "Gettin' in too deep here, Morphy." Silver said quietly. "Next thing ya know, they'll be sayin' I've gone soft." Morph jabbered incomprehensibly and whirled around Silver's head. The cyborg chuckled. "I'm alright, Morphy. Now, what are we gonna do about that treacherous old witch?"

He walked off, never seeing the glowing eyes of Scroop, watching him from above.

Silver made his way up to the helm where Riku stood, occasionally adjusting the ship's course as necessary. "Anythin' to report, lad?" he asked.

"No." Riku said, a chilly edge in his voice.

Silver glanced at him. "Ye alright? Ye haven't said a word since our escape from the Dutchman."

Riku spared him a momentary glance. "Funny you should mention that. You seemed awfully surprised when the Heartless attacked."

Riku had to give the Cyborg credit. He didn't even blink. Instead, he gave a nonchalant shrug. "'Course I was surprised. The Dutchman's supposed to be an ol' drunken sailor's tale and to not only see it, but to see it controllin' the Heartless...well...it don't bode well for spacers. If I might ask, Mr. Riku, how is it a boy like yerself can recognize the Dutchman on sight? Could it be she wasn't after just the ship? The soul of a Keyblade Master must be a mighty temptin' prize for ol' Davy Jones." Riku stayed silent and stared straight ahead. Silver chuckled. "Don't worry, lad. This crew won't harm ye. 'Specially not with the Cap'n around."

Riku said nothing, but he couldn't help but think, _Yeah. Not with the Captain around._

* * *

"Silver thinks you've betrayed him." Scroop told the image of Maleficent. She glowered at him, making him back up just a step. He had taken a big risk, contacting her. He knew that with her powers, she could probably blast him to a crisp, even from across the galaxy. But it was worth the risk if she could help him get the treasure all for himself. 

"That idiotic octopus, Jones, will rue the day he disobeyed the Mistress of All Evil!" she said angrily. "Very well, Scroop. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I suppose something will have to be done to salvage the situation." She raised her arms up into the air and the room around them grew dark. Scroop cried out as he began glowing with a sickly green light. Then, the arachnid gritted his teeth as a pain he had never imagined emanated from his heart. It felt like it was going to explode. 'This is it.' he thought. His only regret was that he would never see the treasure. But then, the pain faded and he felt...powerful. Very powerful. Maleficent smiled. "I have awakened the darkness in your heart. The Heartless are yours to command, but do not fail me."

"What is your command?"

"Allow Silver to proceed with the mutiny. But once the treasure is in hand, turn him and any others who oppose you into Heartless. However, I will tell you the same thing I told him; if the Keyblade Masters are killed, you will suffer a fate much worse than death." She vanished in a flash of green and black fire. Scroop grinned and flexed his claws. This was going to be fun. As he left, a nail floated up off the deck and giggled merrily.

* * *

The next day, Jim wandered down to the galley early to grab a snack. He grabbed a purp from the nearly empty barrel, only to have it laugh and squeeze out of his hand. He sighed. "Morph, not now. It's too early." 

Morph shifted and became something extremely odd. It was a pale woman in black robes, wearing a horned headdress. The tiny figure lifted her arms dramatically and said in a tiny voice, "Mistress of all Evil! Mistress of All Evil!"

Jim's eyes narrowed. "Morph, what-"

At that moment, Jim heard the unmistakable sound of Scroop's clawed feet coming down the stairs and he really didn't want to be alone with the alien, so he dove into the barrel, grabbing Morph as he did. He peeked out of a crack in the barrel and saw, not only Scroop, but most of the rest of the crew as well.

"We should move now!" one alien said.

"No!" shouted the all-too-familiar voice of Silver. "We don't move 'til we got the treasure in hand!"

Jim's eyes went wide as the realization of what was really happening hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I say we kill 'em all now." hissed Scroop. To Jim, the alien somehow looked crueler and even more feral than he had before.

"Spider Psycho!" whispered Morph excitedly. Jim clamped down on him as Silver growled and grabbed Scroop by the neck. "I say what's to say! Disobey me again, like that stunt you pulled with Mr. Arrow, and so help me you'll be joinin' him!" Silver tossed him roughly into the side of barrel, and Jim nearly lost his hold on Morph. So it wasn't his fault after all! Scroop had killed Arrow! He had to warn the Captain!

Scroop stood with a sinister smile on his face. "Strong talk." he said. "But I know otherwise. It's that boy." Silver's face grew dark, and Scroop smirked knowing he had hit the mark. "Methinks you have a soft spot for him. What was it I heard you say? 'Ye got the makins' o' greatness in ya.'"

The crew chuckled, making Silver look even angrier. "Now mark me, the lot o' ya! I care about one thing and one thing only; Flint's Trove! I cozied up to the lad to throw him off our scent. But I ain't gone soft! We can't count on help from Maleficent and her Heartless. We've gotta take it for ourselves!"

"Planet ho!" shouted Kairi's voice from above.

The pirates, for that's what they were, grinned and dashed up above. Jim sat in the barrel, his face looking stricken. After a while, he climbed out slowly and turned...right into the large frame of Silver. The cyborg looked surprised. "Jimbo..." He looked around and then smiled coldly. "Playin' games, are we?"

Jim glared at him. "Yeah. Playing games."

Silver nodded. "I see." behind his back, his cyborg arm had become a pistol. "Well, I was never much good at games. I always...hated...to lose."

"Me too." said Riku as he leapt out from behind a stack of crates and slammed the point of his Keyblade into Silver's Cyborg leg. Silver cried out in pain and fell to the ground as Riku grabbed Jim and hauled him up above. They nearly bowled into Sora and Kairi on their way to Amalia's stateroom.

"Riku what-"

"Change in plans, lads!" shouted Silver's voice. "We move now!"

The pirates all cheered and drew their weapons.

"I hate to say I told you so," said Riku, "because that doesn't even begin to describe it."


	6. Treasure Planet

**NOTES** - _Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review! I crave honest criticism._

* * *

"Pirates? On my ship? I'll see they all hang!" Amelia looked furious as she drew several pistols and the map from within her dresser. She tossed one to Doppler. "Doctor, familiar with these?" 

"Well...I've seen...I mean I've read..." the pistol went off, shattering a lamp inches from Sora's head. "...No. No I'm not."

Amelia rolled her eyes, failing to notice Morph cooing and admiring the map. "Mr. Hawkins, defend this with your life." She tossed it, but the little pink blob raced up and caught it in his mouth in mid-air. "Morph!" Jim exclaimed, prying it away. "Gimme that!"

"Stand aside!" they heard Silver shout gruffly from outside the door. "I'll break it down!"

Kairi aimed her Keyblade down and sent a Firaga ring out which burned a hole through the floor. "Come on! This way!" she said.

* * *

The door blew in and the pirates entered, shouting and brandishing their weapons. Silver growled as he saw the hole in the deck. "Come on!" he shouted. "We'll go 'round and cut 'em off!" Scroop watched and waited until the room was empty. Then, he smiled evilly and snapped his claws. Half-a-dozen Neo-Shadows rose from the deck. "Get them!" he hissed.

* * *

Riku skidded to a halt as they reached the launch bay. "What is it?" Kairi asked. 

Riku shook his head. "I don't know. I can smell some new darkness."

Amelia leapt into a longboat and began untying it so fast, her hands almost appeared as blurs. At that moment, the Heartless slid underneath the door. "Woah!" Sora exclaimed. "Where did they come from?"

"They must have stowed aboard during the attack." Jim speculated. During his moment of distraction, Morph raced in and grabbed the map from his pocket. "No!" the boy shouted, making a dive for it and missing.

Amelia drew her pistol and began firing at the Heartless who dodged and ducked her fire. Doppler also drew his pistol and fired. Instead of hitting the Heartless, the shot went high and snapped a rope, sending a large piece of machinery crashed into the catwalks where the Heartless stood. The entire catwalk broke and took the Heartless with it, plummeting down to the planet miles below.

Everyone stared at Doppler. "Did you actually mean to do that?" Kairi asked.

Doppler looked at the pistol as if he had never seen it before. "You know...I actually did..." he said in an amazed voice.

Suddenly, the door below the longboat began closing. Amelia hissed as she looked over and saw Silver standing by the controls, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Morph! Here, Morph!"

Silver spun and found Jim chasing the little blob, who was still carrying the map and giggling as if it was playing a game. Silver whistled. "Morphy, come 'ere!"

"No! Morph, over here!" Jim said.

Confused, the little creature looked from Jim to Silver and then dove into a coil of rope.

Silver and Jim both lunged for it, but the damage Riku had wrought on Silver's leg took its toll and the cyborg collapsed with a grunt of pain. Jim reached into the coil and quickly grabbed the map. As he fled, Silver raised his pistol arm to shoot, but as he got a lock, he sighed and lowered it.

Jim made a stunning leap into the longboat just as Sora and Riku cut the remaining ropes. The boat dropped out of the bay, only just clearing the closing doors. But just as they thought they had escaped, a tremendous blast blew the engines clean off. Amelia kept control of the crippled vessel as best as she could, but it wasn't enough. They continued plummeting at an alarming rate. All of a sudden, the bottom of the skiff hit something and Sora was bounced over the side with an alarmed cry. "SORA!" Kairi screamed.

"Hang on!" Amelia shouted.

* * *

Sora didn't know when he had blacked out, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself on his back, staring up at what seemed to be a giant mushroom. He groaned. "When did we get back to Wonderland?" He braced his arms against the ground and sat up, but cried out when a bolt of pain shot up his right arm. carefully holding his right arm, he pushed himself into a sitting position with his left. He looked around and tried to remember what had happened. He recalled being thrown out of the longboat and falling. "Great." he muttered. "I'm all alone on a strange world and I've got a broken arm. I'd like to know how it could get worse." 

"Oh it can't. I mean, you're already talking to yourself. Trust me. That's about rock bottom." Sora instinctively raised his arm to summon the Keyblade and very quickly regretted doing so as he was hit with another nauseating wave of pain. He looked around. The source of the voice was a spindly, rust-colored robot with green eyes who was climbing down a vine. "Actually," it continued. "things could be worse. I mean, hey, look at me. Here I am hallucinating about a spiky-haired organic life-form coming to rescue me. And I'm even talking to him! That might actually be rock bottom right there. So, Mr. Hallucination, what's your name?"

Sora sighed. How did he always manage to meet these sorts of characters? "My name is Sora and I'm not a hallucination."

The robot looked confused. "You're not? Then...that means...AHHHH!" He tackled Sora in a hug. "THIS IS FANTASTIC! A CARBON-BASED LIFE-FORM HAS COME TO RESCUE ME AT LAST!"

Sora gasped. "Arm...broken...hurts..."

The Robot looked at his arm. "Oh...hehe...sorry. I've just been alone here for so long...I mean don't get me wrong! Solitude can be fun, but after a hundred years...YA GO A LITTLE NUTS! Ahem. My name is...Uh...wait, I'll think of it...OH YEAH! It's B.E.N.; Bio-Electronic Navigator!"

Sora tensed as he heard a rustling sound a short ways away. "Shut up!" he hissed at B.E.N. With his left hand, he summoned the Keyblade. As quietly as he could, he crept around the stalk of a large mushroom...and came face-to-face with Jim. He heaved a deep sigh of relief. "Oh man am I glad to see you." he said.

Jim nodded. "You too. Kairi's been frantic since you vanished. And-OOF!" B.E.N. had tackled him and was babbling about "more wonderful organics." After finally convincing the robot to calm down, Jim helped put Sora's arm in a makeshift sling while he told him what had happened. "The longboat crashed a ways back there. The Captain is hurt and we need to find a place to hide. Oh, and, the map is back on the ship."

"What?" Sora yelled. "I thought you grabbed it?"

Jim sighed. "Yeah. Me too. But..." At that moment, Morph flew out of Jim's pocket, giggling.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Jim shook his head. "We can't stick around here. We've gotta find some shelter and the Pirates are already-"

"Pirates!" exclaimed B.E.N., "Don't get me started on Pirates! There was this one guy, Captain Flint. Oh boy did he have a temper!"

Jim rounded on him. "What? You knew Captain Flint?"

"I think he suffered from mood swings, personally. I'm not a therapist, but-"

"But then that means you must know where the treasure is!" Sora said. B.E.N. gave him a blank look.

"You know," Jim prompted, "Flint's trove? The Loot of a Thousand Worlds?" Morph turned into a tiny chest filled with gold to illustrate the point.

B.E.N. scratched his head. "It's all a little fuzzy...Wait! The treasure...Buried in the Centroid of the Mechanism...Big door...Opening and closing and opening and closing...And Captain Flint wanted to make sure nobody could get it, so he had me...AHH! Data inaccessible! Reboot! Reboot!" Sora sighed and "tapped" him on the head with the Keyblade. B.E.N. shook his head violently and then fixed his gaze on Sora. "And you are..."

"Wait! What about the treasure?" Sora asked in an exasperated voice.

"I wanna say Neku...Oh, I'm sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be. You see, I've lost my mind. You haven't found it, have you?" he pointed to a hole in the back of his head. "My primary memory circuit. I can't find it anywhere."

"Look," said Jim, "we really need to find a place to stay."

"Oh huzzah! A quest! But can we stop by my house first?" he pulled apart some vines to reveal a large structure situated in the middle of a clearing. "I need to pick up some things first."

Jim grinned. "B.E.N., you might have just solved our problem!"

* * *

It was slow-going with Doppler having to carry Amelia, but they finally made it to B.E.N.'s house. "Sorry it's a little messy." the robot said sheepishly. "But when you're living the bachelor life, you tend to let things go a little bit." 

Kairi smiled kindly. "It's perfect, B.E.N. Thanks."

Riku crossed his arms and looked around. "Well, it's defensible at least."

"Hey!" exclaimed B.E.N. "There's some more of your friends down there! Hey fellas, we're up here!" Jim barely managed to yank him out of the way before laser shots came tearing through the door. Kairi and Riku fired back with their magic until the shooting stopped. "Hold yer fire!" Silver's voice bellowed. "Hello up there! Jimbo, if it's alrigh' with the Cap'n, I'd like te have a short word with ye. No tricks, I swear. Just a good ol' fashioned parlay."

"Here to bargain for the map, doubtless." Amelia growled.

Jim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then that means...they think that we still have it."

Riku nodded. "And that's the only reason we're still alive. Alright. Jim, go. Buy us some time with his if you can."

Jim nodded and hopped out the door, followed close behind by Morph.

Morph flew up to Silver as soon as they got close, making happy cooing sounds. The Cyborg laughed. "Morphy! I wondered where ye'd lit off to." Jim approached cautiously, noticing that Silver was using his cyborg arm as a crutch for his damaged leg. He grunted and sat down heavily on a rock. "This ol' leg's downright snarky since that little incident down in the galley." Jim scowled at the reminder of the incident. Silver, seeing this, sighed. "Look, Jimbo, what you may have heard back there, at least the part concernin' you, I didn't mean a word of it." He jerked his thumb at the other pirates gathered at the base of the hill. "That bloodthirsty lot thought I'd gone soft! They'da gutted us both!" he leaned in and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But if we play our cards right, we can both walk away from this rich as kings!"

Jim's face became intrigued. "Yeah?"

Silver smiled. "Yep. You get me that map and an even portion of the treasure is yours!" He stuck out his hand and gave a smile that Jim had seen him try to use on the Captain more than once.

He shook his head. "Boy. You are really something, you know that? All that talk of 'greatness' and 'light coming off my sails?' What a joke. I'm gonna make sure that you never see one piece of MY treasure!"

Silver's face broke into an angry snarl. "That treasure is owed me by thunder!"

"Well then try and find it without my map, _by thunder!_"

"Ye still don't know how to pick yer fights, do ya, boy?" Silver growled. "Now mark me! Either I have that map by dawn tomorrow, or I'll bast the lot of ye to kingdom come!" He turned and began stomping away. "Morph, hop to it!" The little creature, distressed at seeing his two friends fighting, looked at Jim uncertainly. "NOW!" Morph whimpered and dove behind Jim. For a split second, Silver looked sad, but then his face hardened and he kept walking.

* * *

Riku and Jim stood by the door, gazing out into the night. Far below, the fire from the Pirates' camp flickered. Far above, the Legacy say, glowing against the darkened sky. Kairi walked over to them. "Guys, the Captain is getting worse and we have to do something about Sora's arm." 

"Well seeing as all of the Potions are back on the ship, I'm open to suggestions." Riku said moodily.

"Don't worry!" said B.E.N. "Jimmy knows exactly now to get out of this! Jimmy just...He has this knowledge of things!" He laughed and leaned in to whisper to Jim. "Any thoughts at all?"

Jim sighed. "Without the map, we're dead. If we try to leave, we're dead. And if we stay here-"

"We're dead!" Morph mimicked cheerfully. "We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!"

"Well," said B.E.N., "I think Jimmy could use a little 'quiet time.' So I'll just slip out the back door."

Everyone stared at the robot. "...Back door?" Sora asked.

B.E.N. pulled open a hatch in the floor. "Yeah. You get a nice breeze through here. Which I think is important for the Feng Shui of a house."

Jim, Riku and Kairi ran over to look into the hatch.

"Woah..." said Kairi. "What is all this?" Down through the hole was a deep tunnel filled with grinding gears and narrow catwalks.

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run all throughout the planet?" B.E,N. asked. "Not a clue!"

Jim thought quickly. "Kairi, Riku, come with me. I'll need your help if there are any more Heartless on board."

"What about me?" Sora asked indignantly.

"You're not going anywhere with that arm, young man." Doppler said sternly.

Amelia chuckled weakly. "Very forceful, Doctor. Has anyone ever told you that you have wonderful eyes?"

Doppler stared at her. "Jim, hurry. I think the Captain is delusional."

Jim nodded and jumped down through the hatch, followed by Kairi, Riku, B.E.N. and Morph.

Sora sighed. He _hated_ being left behind.

* * *

Riku immediately knew something was wrong as soon as he set foot on the Legacy. "Be careful, guys." he said quietly. "This place reeks of Darkness. Jim, go find the map. Kairi, go with him. Get some Potions while you're down there. B.E.N., stay here." 

"Right!" said B.E.N. "I'll disconnect the laser cannons!"

Jim, Riku, Kairi and Morph gave a collective sigh...which was followed by a low growl. All three looked at each other. They knew that none of them could make a sound like that. The next sound they heard was of many clicking footsteps approaching from behind them. They turned slowly. There, surrounded by an aura of Darkness, his eyes now the pure yellow of a Heartless, was Scroop. Riku summoned his Keyblade. "You two go. I'll handle this."

Kairi hesitated, but then followed Jim down into the ship's hold.

"Can you even hear me in there any more?" Riku asked with a sneer. "You're so strung out on that Darkness that you probably can't put two words together into a sentence." Scroop hissed and lunged at him, quicker than a normal human could have dodged. But Riku leapt over his head, flipping back to fire a series of Dark Firagas at him. The Arachnid growled as it was struck, but it turned and punched the deck, sending a wave of Darkness at Riku. He put up a barrier and the wave dissipated against it. Riku smirked. "See, Scroop, that's the thing about the Power of Darkness. Unless you can control it, it'll control you. And then, you're only as good as the next Heartless." He raised his Keyblade into the air and then slammed it down on the deck, sending an even more powerful wave of Darkness at Scroop. The creature was hit head-on and sent, screaming, over the side of the ship.

Riku dismissed his Keyblade and turned away, but cried out as a blast struck him in the back. He flipped over and found Scroop climbing back up onto the ship. "Thanks...for the tip...boy..." he said in a strained, but cruel voice. "But...I know what you are...Aren't you a little old...to be afraid of the Dark?"

At that moment, Riku suddenly found himself floating up off the deck. He thought this was one of Scroop's abilities until he looked over and saw the arachnid also floating up a few feet away from him. "B.E.N.!" he growled, smacking his head. The robot must have knocked out the artificial gravity. Scroop managed to grab hold of the mast. Riku attempted to follow his example, but was too far away. At the last second, he caught hold of the flag.

Scroop smiled ferally and raised a claw to cut the rope holding the flag on. "Give my regards...to Mr. Arrow..."

"Why don't you tell him yourself!" Jim flipped around the mast and kicked Scroop in the back, launching him up and away from the ship. The Pirate's screams faded as he diminished into the sky, and not a moment too soon. The gravity returned abruptly, sending Jim and Riku both falling into the crow's nest.

Riku smiled. "I coulda handled that myself...but thanks."

Jim chuckled. "Hey, I owed you one."

"Did you get the map?" Riku asked.

Jim smirked and pulled the golden sphere out of his pocket. "Easy as squeezing purp juice. Kairi's down in the infirmary getting the potions."

"Laser cannons disabled, Captain Jimmy, sir! That wasn't so hard." They looked down to see B.E.N. covered in wires. Behind him, Kairi and a tiny Morph Kairi were shaking their heads resignedly.

* * *

The sun was just thinking of peeking over the horizon when the heroes climbed back up into B.E.N.'s house through the back door. Everything inside was completely dark, but Jim could just make out the huddled forms of the others. "Doc! Wake up!" he said, "We got the map!"

He held the golden sphere out to what he was fairly certain was Doppler, but this notion was dispelled when a large mechanical hand snatched it. "Fine work, Jimbo." said Silver in a silky voice. "Fine work indeed."


	7. Radiant Interlude I

**NOTES** - _Hiya! This is a little something I'll be doing every few chapters. Parts of it will give background for serious plotlines in Radiant Garden, and parts will be humorous exchanges, usually involving the Janitor. Hope you enjoy! Please review!_

* * *

It was the middle of a hot day in Radiant Garden. The normally bustling city was quiet for once, with most of its citizens hidden indoors for refuge from the heat. Tucked against the castle wall in Seventh District was a wholly unremarkable two-story building, its walls painted the same yellow color as its neighbors, and its roof made with the same orange tiles. Its only distinguishing trait was a sign hanging over the door that read "7th Heaven." Those familiar with the town knew it to be a quite reputable bar that had existed even before the invasion of Maleficent and her Heartless so many years before.

Normally, it was at least moderately busy this time of day, filled with workers from various businesses and those helping to rebuild the town. However today, all was quiet. Behind the bar, a young woman with long black hair sighed and wiped a perfectly clean glass, for lack of anything better to do.

The silence was suddenly broken by the harsh sound of a phone going off upstairs. Tifa sighed. It wasn't the bar's line. No. This one was for a different purpose. With each ring, her irritation grew. "Take a hint." she muttered. "He's not here any more." If whoever the persistent caller was picked up on her vibe, they didn't let it deter them. After the phone rang for the sixth time, Tifa finally set the glass down and made her way up the stairs. She stood by the phone for three more rings before finally picking it up. "Cloud strife's line." she answered, not hiding the irritation in her voice. "He's not in at the moment so..." her voice trailed off and her brow knitted in anger. "Yeah...I remember you alright."

* * *

Aerith frowned as she picked up the sheet. She had just changed it that same morning and now... "Why are there two holes in this sheet?" she asked. The children staying in the hospital had never been destructive before. In fact, most of them were so grateful that they had a place to stay that they almost over-behaved.

"That one's on me." She turned to face the Janitor, who had appeared out of nowhere, as he usually did. She wondered vaguely if the unusual man had some sort of teleportation ability, but then dismissed the thought. "Sometimes I haunt this ward at night."

Aerith stared at him. "You what?"

From a few beds over, there came a slight thunking sound, followed by the sound of sloshing liquid. "Oh no!" the little boy in the bed cried in dismay. She turned and found that he had knocked a glass of orange juice onto the floor. She smiled in her reassuring manner and went over to him. "It's okay, Denzel." she said. "I'll get you another juice."

Denzel's eyes were huge and filled with fear. "But now the Ghost That Hates Spills is gonna come!"

"You're right, Denzel." said the Janitor in a low voice, walking slowly towards the bed. "He might come this very night. And as you know, the Ghost's entire family was killed by a careless spill, just like yours." he paused and narrowed his eyes. "Just...like yours. Hmm..."

Aerith sighed, took the Janitor's arm and pulled him away. "Alright," she said in an unusually stern voice, "this ends NOW."

The Janitor planted his feet and looked her square in the eyes. "Do you have any idea how messy kids can be? And have you noticed how clean this place has been since..." he looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper. "...the Ghost?" Aerith rolled her eyes. "And besides," the Janitor continued, "I'm only pickin' on the tonsil cases! The spoiled ones who get ice-cream for every meal. Do you know what I had to eat when I had _my_ tonsils out?"

"What?" Aerith asked, knowing she would regret the answer.

"Hot coffee and granola bars! Hot and scratchy! _Hot and scratchy!_"

She shook her head incredulously. "Are you insane?"

The Janitor shrugged. "I'm a little bit tired. I was up all night, learning to roller-blade. I want the Ghost to be a little bit more glidey."

Aerith had no words. She stared at him for a moment and then walked away, shaking her head.


	8. The Loot of a Thousand Worlds

**NOTES** - _None, really. Pleeeeeeease review?_

* * *

"Hang on, guys." said Kairi. "I've gotta tie my shoe." But Riku, Jim and B.E.N. didn't hear her and continued ahead. She sighed when she looked up and saw them further up ahead. "Men..." Jim and B.E.N. had already climbed up when a burly hand reached down through the hole and yanked Riku up by his shirt. Kairi gasped and ran forward, her Keyblade appearing in her hand. She heard a crash and a grunt of pain, but then Silver's voice shouted, "Put the blade away or yer little pal Sora is minus his head!"

Kairi thought quickly. They hadn't noticed her absence yet, and she couldn't risk the lives of Sora or the others. So, she dismissed her Keyblade, ducked behind a cluster of tubes and waited.

* * *

Silver chuckled at the glares he was receiving from Jim and Riku. He tossed the map up and caught it in the air. "Yer jus' like me, lads. Ye hates ta lose." Sora tried to break the grasp of the Pirate holding his good arm. Silver smirked. "If I was you, boy, I'd quit strugglin'."

"If you were me, I'd be pretty damn ugly." Sora snapped back.

Silver shook his head, amused and got to work on the map. But no matter how many buttons he pressed, or how he twisted it, it remained obstinately inactive. He glanced at Jim who was smiling smugly. "Open it!" he snapped, thrusting the map at him. Jim set his jaw and did nothing. With a click, Silver's arm became a gun. He pointed it at Doppler's head. "Get busy, Jimbo."

Without ever breaking Silver's gave, he twisted and prodded the map until the glowing green form of Treasure Planet sprang out of it. The Pirates all gasped when the shape of the planet became a pulsating line, leading out the door. Silver grinned. "Tie 'em up! Leave 'em with the oth-"

As quickly as it had appeared, the path to the treasure vanished. "You want the map," Jim said, "you're taking me too."

A flash of anger crossed Silver's face, but them melted into a grudging look of respect. "We'll take 'em all!" he declared.

As the Pirates and their prisoners made their way down to the stolen longboat, Sora edged up next to Riku. "Do you have a plan?" he whispered.

Riku shook his head. "No. But I really hope Kairi does."

As the ship took off, nobody noticed the young girl clinging for dear life to the bottom strut. Nor did they look up and see the sinister red and black Gummi Ship shadowing them from high above.

* * *

The hunt for the treasure had hit a slight snag. The glowing trail led to the end of a high cliff and just stopped.

"I see nothing!" one of the Pirates shouted. "One great big, stinking pile of NOTHING!"

The map suddenly shut down unexpectedly. "What's goin' on, Jimbo?" Silver demanded.

Jim was frantically trying the sequence to activate the map. "I don't know!" he said. "It won't open!"

"We should never have followed this boy!" sneered a short female pirate, jumping up and shoving Jim to the ground.

Silver tried to hide the look of concern on his face as his crew brandished their weapons at Jim, B.E.N., Sora and Riku. "I'd suggest ye get that gizmo goin' again!" he said.

Jim looked around for any way to escape as Sora and Riku drew their Keyblades. Suddenly, he spotted as round depression in the ground. He knew it was a long shot, but he also knew that her had to try. He slammed the map down into the hole, and like magic, a tiny version of the galaxy map sprang into existence. Then, as a finale to the show, a massive triangular portal opened before them. It was easily large enough to fit the Legacy through and it displayed a view of a small town, at the center of which stood a tall clock tower.

"That's Twilight Town!" said Sora.

Silver's mouth hung open like a fish. "But...that's half-way 'cross the galaxy..."

Jim touched a place on the map and the image changed to that of a vast blue nebula. "A big door...opening and closing..." he rubbed his chin. "Let's see...Olympus..." He grinned. "Montressor Space Port." He touched the small icon and a view of the crescent-shaped space port appeared through the portal.

"So that's how Flint did it." Riku realized. "He used this portal to go all over the universe, stealing treasure."

"But where'd he stash it all?" Silver demanded, shoving Jim back and pressing random icons on the map.

"Treasure!" exclaimed B.E.N. "Buried...in the..."

"Centroid of the mechanism..." finished Jim. "What if the whole planet IS the mechanism? And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet!"

"And how is blue blazes are we supposed to get there?" demanded Silver.

Jim reached out and tapped the image of Treasure Planet itself, situated in the center of the map. "Just open the right door."

The view from the portal changed to show a massive chamber, filled with a bright yellow glow. Jim stepped forward, followed by Silver, the Pirates, Sora and Riku.

From behind a tree, Kairi edged her way forward, but then a white-gloved hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her down. "Shh!" urged a wonderfully familiar voice. "We've got company!"

The black and red Gummi Ship flew by overhead, and from it came a beam of light which resolved into an equally familiar, but far less welcome form.

* * *

As soon as they saw what the room held, everyone, Pirate and Hero alike, gasped in awe. It was a massive sphere, the size of a small moon, which was covered with mountains of gold and jewels.

"We're going to need a bigger boat!" one of the Pirates cheered giddily. Silver stumbled out onto the trove and sank to his knees. "A lifetime o' searchin'...An' I can finally touch it!"

Jim looked around, realizing that their captors had forgotten them for the moment. "Come on, guys. We're getting out of here and we're not leaving empty-handed."

"What do you have in mind?" Sora asked.

Jim pointed at an ancient-looking ship with tattered, blood-red sails. Piled atop it was even more treasure.

"Not so fast, punks! You ain't goin' nowhere!"

They whirled. Standing right behind them was none other than Pete, grinning like a madman and looking oddly sinister in the glow of the treasure.

Sora sighed. "Look, can we just cut the pointless battle and skip to the part where you run away, promising to get us next time?"

Pete laughed unkindly. "Not dis time, squirt! Cap'n Pete's battin' fer a new team now! And dey're goin' all da way ta da World Series!" He brought his fingers up to his lips and whistled. Several feet away, four Heartless of a type Sora had never seen before clawed their way out of the gold. They looked like Shadows on steroids. They had the same pitch-black bodies and yellow eyes, but were each seven feet tall and had wicked clawed hands which dragged down by their feet.

Sora and Riku backed away, brandishing their Keyblades.

"Jim!" said Riku. "Get that ship running! B.E.N., go find the Captain and Doppler!"

"No way!" said B.E.N. "I am not leaving my buddies behind in the face of danger!" Jim, Sora and Riku all glared at him. "...Unless they look at me like that. Good luck, guys!"

"Any bright ideas?" Sora asked nervously as Jim sprinted for the ship.

"Same as usual." Riku said. "Tear them apart like all the other Heartless we've faced."

"One problem." Sora pointed out. "My right arm is still broken and I'm no good with my left."

"Oh..." Riku said, frowning. "That might be an issue."

"Don't you nitwits ever stop yammerin'?" Pete growled. "Heartless, take 'em down!"

The Ultra Shadows all leapt at once, but a black and gold blur met them in mid air, spinning and slashing like a mad dervish. At the same moment, a female voice shouted "Blizzaga!" Several balls of ice slammed into the Heartless, knocking them to the ground. None of them were destroyed, but they were forced to fall back.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed at the same as Riku exclaimed "King Mickey!"

The King smiled back at them as Kairi applied a Potion to Sora's arm. "Hiya, fellas. Looks like you could use some help!"

Pete cackled. "Dis is like Christmas! All you Key Morons are in one place, even da Boat Boy King! My new boss is gonna be so happy!"

"What do you mean, 'new boss?'" Mickey asked.

Pete snorted. "Like I'm gonna tell you twerps! I got places ta be. But first, here's a little surprise courtesy o' Captain Flint!" he snapped his fingers and a deep rumble shook the entire cavern.

"What did you do?" Riku demanded.

Pete laughed. "I just tripped the booby trap Flint set up ta make sure nobody could take his precious treasure! So long, suckers!" He turned and ran for the portal, while the Heartless closed in. The Keyblade Masters nodded at each other and charged as one.

Sora slashed his Keyblade at the first of the Ultra Shadows he encountered, but to his shock, it simply vanished. "What the-" He found himself flying forward, face-first into the gold. He jumped up and spun. The Heartless had somehow appeared behind him. Again, he charged and was met with the same result. Pulling himself up a second time, he snarled and drew his arm back. "Strike Raid!" He flung the Keyblade forward like a boomerang, faster than a normal human could have done. But as before, the Heartless vanished, re-appearing right in front of Sora. But he was ready this time. He rolled under it's attack, through its legs and rose in time to catch the Keyblade on its return arc. Then, in one fluid movement, he spun and slashed, this time connecting and tearing a deep gash into the creature's back. The monster groaned and collapsed, melting into a puddle of fetid black goo as it did. He turned back to his friends in time to see Kairi dispatch the last of the Heartless with a Thundaga spell.

"We did it!" Sora cheered. But the elation was short lived. Each of the puddles that had been their foes began reforming, and also splitting, each forming two Ultra Shadows. "Uh oh." Sora said. "I've seen something like this before." He remembered his battle with the Hydra in Olympus, how each head he cut off became three more.

"I have a feeling they're gonna keep doing that." Riku said, eying the new eight Heartless.

"They've gotta have a weakness!" Kairi said.

Mickey shook his head. "Unfortunately, we don't have time to find out what it is! Look!" Bright purple beams had begin shooting from the ceiling of the chamber and tearing into the treasure. Far away, they could see Silver bellowing at his fellow Pirates who were fleeing towards the portal. But then, a roaring sound reached their ears. They had forgotten Jim! The ship's engines were coming online, albeit slowly and one-at-a-time. The Heartless noticed this too, as two of them teleported past the Keyblade Masters and began stalking towards the ship. Kairi aimed her Keyblade. "Firaga!" The spell struck the ground between the two creatures, causing them to jump back and turn their attention to her once more.

"Come on!" she shouted. "We need to buy Jim some time to get the ship going! Keep their attention focused on us, but don't destroy them!"

Sora grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

Jim cheered as the ship's engines roared to life. "Yes!" he shouted. "Morph, we are SO outa here!" The little blob giggled and cheered. He spun the wheel towards where his friends were battling some huge Heartless, but then an all-too-familiar voice chuckled and said, "Ah, Jimbo, ain't ye the seventh wonder o' the universe!" The Cyborg was climbing up over the railing and smiling as if he and Jim were the best of friends.

Jim, thinking quickly, grabbed a gold-hilted sword out of the treasure pile next to him and aimed it at Silver. "Get back!" he shouted.

Silver looked down at the sword and then back up at Jim, all humor now gone from his expression. "I like ye, lad." he said in a dangerous voice. "But I've come too far te let ye stand between me and me treasure."

As Silver advanced, a blast from the roof of the cavern struck the ship, sending both Jim and Silver over the side. Silver managed to hold onto the ship with his cyborg arm, but Jim was not so fortunate. The boy tumbled over a ledge, only just managing to grab a tiny outcropping. "Jimbo!" Silver gasped. He kept his hold on the treasure-filled ship, but stepped out as far as he could to reach for Jim with his other arm. "Come on, lad!" he said. "Take me hand!"

Jim reached, but a mocking few inches kept him away. "I can't!" he cried.

Silver could see his hold slipping away. He looked back at the treasure, and then back at Jim. He heaved a great sigh. "Blast me te Davy Jones' Locker fer this!" He released the ship and made a dive for Jim, catching him just as the boy lost his grip.

Sora looked up to see the ship hit a beam and explode. "No! Jim!" he cried. But then, he saw both Jim and Silver running towards them as fast as their legs would carry them. "Guys! Time to bail!" he shouted.

"Go!" shouted Mickey. "I'll hold 'em off!"

"But your Majesty..." Kairi said.

The King smiled. "Don't worry. I don't need a ship to escape! Now run!"

Riku nodded. "See you soon, your Majesty."

* * *

They all dove through the portal at the same time.

"Silver!" Jim gasped. "You gave up-"

"Jus' a lifelong obsession, Jimbo." the Cyborg said. "I'll get over it."

Sora elbowed Riku. "Told you he was a good guy."

"Aloha, Jimmy and Friends!!" They looked up as the Legacy descended from above. B.E.N. leaned over the rail, waving at them. "Hurry, people! We've got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds 'til planet's destruction!"

That was motivation enough. As soon as it was close enough, all of them leapt onto the ship and it roared into the sky with Riku taking the helm from a grateful Doppler. Below them, huge pillars of flame were leaping up from the planet's surface, sending chunks of rock and metal into the sky. It was an unfortunate coincidence that one such chunk ripped through the middle mast, destroying the sail.

"Captain!" Riku shouted. "Engines are only at thirty percent! We'll never get out of here in time!"

"Turn the ship around!" Jim said suddenly. "There's a portal back there! We're gonna use it to get out of here!"

"Pardon me, Jim," said Doppler, "but doesn't that portal OPEN ONTO A RAGING INFERNO?"

"Yeah," said Jim, untying the Longboat that they hadn't had time to secure below, "but I'm gonna change that. I'm gonna open a different door."

Sora nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Really, Captain," said Doppler, "I don't see how this can work-"

"Listen te the boy!" bellowed Silver. He grabbed the longboat and helped Jim and Sora move it to the edge of the ship.

"Whatever happens," Jim said, "keep the ship heading towards that portal."

Silver gazed at him for a moment and then nodded.

With Sora and Jim both aboard, the boat took off, heading at full speed back towards the portal. While Jim flew, Sora used Reflect to keep the larger pieces of debris away from them. However, they didn't encounter any real problems until an Ultra Shadow leapt from the ground, ricocheted off a large piece of debris and latched onto the front of the longboat. The engine sputtered and the vessel began losing altitude quickly.

"Sora, get that thing off!" Jim shouted.

Sora was already moving. He stood and swung at the monster, only barely missing. For a moment, he gazed into its soulless eyes and a chill went down his spine. Somehow, he knew the creature and it knew him. It was only a stroke of luck when a piece of debris struck the distracted Heartless, knocking it off the boat.

Jim slammed his hand down repeatedly on the engine starter which sputtered unhelpfully.

"Come on!" he growled. "Why won't this thing fire up?"

Sora looked up to see the Legacy soar past them overhead. "Fire?" he asked. "No problem!" He aimed the Keyblade at the engine and shouted, "Firaga!" A jet of flame struck the device, heating it the point where it once again exploded to life.

"YES!" Jim shouted. They again raced ahead, reaching the portal at the same time as the Legacy. Jim reached a desperate hand out and tapped the tiny image of Montressor Space Port.

The next thing Sora knew, they and the Legacy were soaring out over the place where the journey had begun. From behind them, there was a flash of an explosion and the portal closed forever.

They could barely hear the cheer of those aboard the Legacy over their own exaltations. Doppler and Amelia were hugging laughing while Kairi and B.E.N. danced around the deck. Even Riku was grinning and laughing. "Didn't I say the lad had greatness in 'im?" cheered Silver as Morph turned into fireworks.

They brought the longboat into the lower hatch and joined their friends up on the deck. Amelia and Doppler came up to Jim, beaming proudly. "Unorthodox," said the Captain, "but ludicrously effective. I'd be proud to recommend you to the Interstellar Academy. They could use a man like you."

"Just wait until your mother hears about this!" Doppler exclaimed. "Er...Of course, we may downplay the life-threatening parts."

"Jimmy! Sora! That was UNFORGETTABLE!" exclaimed B.E.N.

Jim snapped his fingers. "B.E.N., I almost forgot! I found something you lost." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a copper piece of machinery, exactly the same color as the hole in the back of B.E.N.'s head. Suddenly, it flashed brightly and rose into the air. Sora grinned and summoned his Keyblade. As had happened so many times, he found himself surrounded buy swirling golden clouds, with a glowing shape like his crown necklace below his feet. Above him, a beam of light shot out of B.E.N.'s memory circuit and formed into a giant glowing Keyhole. He spun the Keyblade around and aimed it up at the Keyhole. With a noise like a giant door being locked, the door to the heart of Montressor was sealed and Sora found himself back on the Legacy.

"Astounding!" declared Doppler. "I never thought I'd live to see a Keyhole being sealed!"

Jim looked uncertainly at the memory circuit. "Is it safe?" he asked. Sora nodded. With a shrug, Jim spun ben around and placed the device back where it belonged.

"WOAH!" shouted B.E.N., his eyes going fuzzy and then turning from green to blue. "You know, I was just thinking...Wait! I WAS _THINKING!_ IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME! ALL MY MEMORIES! OH THANK YOU, JIMMY!"

Jim chuckled and looked back to where Silver had been standing, but the Cyborg was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, realizing where he was.

* * *

Silver quickly untied the longboat. Morph chittered uncertainly. "Sorry, Morphy." he said. "We gotta make tracks."

"You never quit, do you?"

Silver smiled, not even surprised that Jim had found him out. "Ah, Jimbo. I was merely checkin' ta make sure our last longboat was safe an' secure."

Jim nodded. "I see." With a few quick twists, he tied the rope into a strong knot. "That should do it."

Silver chuckled. "I taught ya too well, lad." He coughed and stuck his hand into his pockets. "Now...If it's all the same to ye, we'd just as soon avoid prison. Little Morphy here's a free spirit. Bein' in a cage...It'd break his heart."

Jim smiled shook his head. "Boy...you are really something." he said affectionately. He reached over and opened the lower hatch. Then, he untied the longboat.

"What say ya ship out with us?" Silver asked suddenly. "You an' me! Hawkins an' Silver! Full of ourselves and no ties ta anyone!"

"You know," said Jim, letting Morph twirl through his fingers, "when I got on this boat, I woulda taken you up on that offer in a second." He looked down through the hatch at the spaceport passing beneath them. "But then I met this old Cyborg who taught me that I could chart my own course...So that's what I'm gonna do."

"And what do ya see off that bow o' yours?" asked Silver.

Jim smiled. "A future."

Silver beamed proudly. "Look at ye, lad. Glowin' like a solar fire. Yer somethin' special, Jim. Yer gonna rattle the stars, you are."

Morph looked at Jim and began wailing, melting into a puddle of water. "Hey, Morph," Jim said, "I'll see you around."

"See you around." the little creature repeated sadly.

Silver's face grew serious. "Morphy, I got a job for ye. I want ye ta keep an eye on this here pup. Will...Will ye do me that little favor?" Morph gave a little salute and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

As Silver climbed into the boat, he turned back. "Oh, one last thing." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of gold and jewels and tossed it to Jim. The last of Flint's trove, he realized. "Fer yer friends te get their ship back and fer yer dear mother te rebuild that inn o' hers!"

"Stay out of trouble...You old scallywag." said Jim.

Silver laughed merrily. "Why, Jimbo, when've I ever done otherwise?"

The longboat roared to life and sped away, with Silver's laughter still echoing in Jim's ears.


	9. No Laughing Matter

Donald, Goofy and Mrs. Hawkins were all waiting when the Legacy finally docked. Saying goodbye to their new friends and leaving Jim and his mother to reunite, the heroes made their way to the space port's impound lot where they retrieved the Highwind. Soon, they were back in space and headed for their next world.

"So you saw the King?" Donald demanded. "Where is he?"

"He stayed behind." said Riku. "But don't worry. He's still alive."

"Maybe he's on some mission we can't know about." offered Kairi.

Sora propped his chin up on his hands. "But _why_ can't we know about it? Is it the danger? I think we've proven that we can handle that enough times."

Riku shrugged. "Maybe he just thinks he can get it done faster and better by himself."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you'd know all about that." he muttered.

Riku's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yeah. I would. Sometimes it's better not to have distractions hanging around, getting in your way."

"Cut it out, you two! Fighting doesn't help a thing!" said Jiminy, jumping up and down.

But Sora couldn't resist getting the last word in. "You mean distractions like your home and family and everyone you claim to care about?"

"Sora!" exclaimed Kairi. "That's over the line!"

Both boys stood and got in each other's faces. "You have something to say to me, well then why don't you go ahead and say it!" yelled Riku.

"Hey! Knock it off!" quacked Donald.

"I think I just DID say it!" retorted Sora.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Everyone in the ship jumped at the thunderous voice. Goofy's eyes were smouldering and his fists were clenched. "You fellas are too old to be actin' like this! Now I don't wanna hear another word of arguin' or so help me, I'll turn this ship around, drop you both off somewhere and Me, Donald and Kairi'll finish the mission! Is that understood?"

He sounded so very paternal that Sora and Riku both muttered, "Yes sir."

Instantly, the demonic father-figure that seemed to have taken possession of Goofy vanished and he smiled. "Now, I'll go fix us some lunch! Maybe I'll make tacos! Ahyuk!"

Kairi's eyes were like dinner-plates. "I...I didn't think he could even _get_ angry..."

Donald chuckled and winked. "He wasn't angry. Goofy might not be a scholar, but he is a dad. He knows when you gotta practice tough love."

Kairi smiled, but she was troubled. When Sora and Riku argued like that, bad things always seemed to happen soon after.

* * *

"PULL!" Hades shouted. The two demons, Pain and Panic, hefted a large plate, which held Sora's grinning visage, and tossed it into the air. Hades formed a large fireball in his hand and tossed it after the plate, turning it into a rain of molten slag.

"I can't believe this kid!" he growled, spinning around angrily. "We throw everything we've got at him and he still..." A rubbery squeaking sound coming from somewhere near his feet drew his attention. There, rocking back and forth innocently, was Pain, his feet adorned with red and yellow sneakers which bore the title "Air Sora" and had a cartoonish picture of the Keyblade on the sides. "What...are..._those_?" Hades hissed.

Pain shrugged sheepishly. "I dunno...I thought they looked kinda...dashing..."

"We have been trying to conquer the universe for the last three years and have failed spectacularly all because of this one little bozo...And you...are wearing...his _**MERCHANDISE?!**_" By this time, Pain was whimpering and cowering in fear. Hades looked ready to turn him into a cinder, but was again stopped by a strange sound. It was _crunching_. He looked over slowly at Panic who was happily munching on a chocolate-covered ice-cream bar, shaped like Sora's head. He looked up at Hades and chuckled nervously. "Hehe...Want a bite?"

"**AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!**" a large explosion engulfed the room, destroying everything within and leaving the two demons blackened and smoking.

Maleficent entered, looking distastefully at the destruction and at the angry, god. She, in contrast to Hades, did not appear even faintly angry, and was even smiling slightly. "Patience, my friend." she said smoothly. "We have suffered a small setback, but nothing more. Though the Keyblade Masters were not captured as we wished, they still live. We will simply have to find another way of getting to them. And Pete's treachery was inevitable. Indeed, I was going to dispose of him soon anyways. Now come. Our new...comrades...have arrived."

Hades muttered a curse and followed her. They entered a large chamber where, if Hades remembered correctly, Sora had defeated the Nobody named Saix. The large window which dominated the room displayed the glowing image of Kingdom Hearts, its beauty marred by the gaping hole that Ansem the Wise's machine had torn in it. Set in the center of the room was a large table, around which sat several rather interesting characters. As Maleficent and Hades entered, the buzz of conversation that had been going on ceased. Maleficent's smug smile widened. She loved commanding that kind of respect.

"Welcome, all of you." she said. "You have each been called because within your hearts sleeps a power that-"

"Blah, blah, blah." interrupted a pudgy, orange-haired, masked man in a black and white body-suit with a stylized letter 'S' on the front. "Just tell us what we get out of working with you freaks."

"Listen, Spandex Man-" Hades growled.

"The name is SYNDROME!"

A fireball appeared in Hades hand and he looked ready to throw it, but Maleficent grabbed his arm in her vice-like grip. "Enough!" she snapped.

"Can we please get to the matter at hand?" snapped a tall, pale woman in a pure white dress and a crown made of icicles. "I don't have time to waste."

"Agreed." said a towering, shark-like being who wore some kind of uniform. "Why did you call us here, Maleficent?"

Hades backed off, still glaring at Syndrome as Maleficent continued. "Queen Jadis, Captain Gantu, all of you, please. The reason you're all here is simple. I want to give you all power beyond your wildest imagination."

A beefy man with long black hair leaned forward with an intrigued look on his face. "What kind of power?"

"A power you have all tasted. Even mere humans like yourself, Gaston." The man scowled at the witch, but didn't interrupt. "The power, in short, of Darkness. Some of you may or may not be familiar with the Heartless." She raised a hand and a Shadow rose from the floor.

"Isn't the little guy cute?" said Hades in a false sweet voice. "Almost looks like one of those plushie dolls."

"Adorable." sneered a woman who could only be described as scary beyond all reason. "What could we possibly want with it?"

Hades grinned and tapped a button on the table before him. "Bring in the prisoner." He waited...and waited...and waited... "BRING IN THE PRISONER!"

The door slammed open and Pain and Panic rolled a large cage in. "He almost ripped my tail off!" Pain was whining. The cage held a young man who was wide-eyed in fear. "Please!" he called to the assembled Villains, clutching the bars of the cage. "Somebody help me!"

"This, Lady Yzma," said Maleficent, rising from her seat and gesturing for the Heartless to follow her, "is what you could possibly want with it." She pointed at the cage. Instantly, the Shadow melted into the floor and slithered through the bars. Pain and Panic skittered away and hid behind Hades while the man backed himself as far as he could away from it. "Please don't do this..." he whimpered. without any preamble, the Heartless rose into its solid form and leapt on the man, tearing at his chest with its sharp claws. As the man's screams grew louder, the villains watched, some of them fascinated, some of them trying not to look horrified. Within moments, the man was gone, replaced by a second Shadow.

Maleficent smiled wickedly. "Any questions?"

"You're crazy." said Gaston, looking slightly green.

The door to the room suddenly slammed open again. "And what's wrong with that?" asked a highly demented voice. "It's done wonders for me!" His face was hidden by shadow, but they could see that he wore a violently purple suit with a green flower stuck in the lapel.

Maleficent's smile dropped instantly. "I don't know how you got in here, but get out!"

"Oh Mally, I'm hurt!" he said in a mocking voice. "How could you have this little party without inviting me?"

"It isn't a party you nitwit!" she snapped. "Gantu! Get rid of him!"

Captain Gantu rose from his seat and stomped towards the man, cracking his knuckles. As he got close, a stream of purple gas suddenly shot into the alien's face. He coughed and fell over, groaning.

The man stepped over his prone form. "But seriously, Mal. Your little group needs me."

"Like we need hemorrhoids." muttered Hades.

"What is this? Who _are_ you?" asked Jadis.

The man pulled something out of his pocket and threw it down on the table. "My card."

It was a single playing card; the Joker. "_HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_!"

* * *

Maleficent hated the Joker. She hated his purple suit, she hated his bleached-white skin, she hated his green hair and she REALLY hated his stupid maniac's grin. In her opinion, he gave villains a VERY bad name. She didn't know where he came from or why he was the way he was, but she had refused him a seat on her council once before and she hoped to do so again. He stood before her throne, leering up at her as if she couldn't roast him with a single gesture.

"Alright, Joker, you're here. Now tell me what you want. If it interests me, you may walk out of here on your own two feet, rather than being dumped over the highest balcony."

He chuckled. "Well, Mally, I've stood back for a while and watched you work from afar. I must say, I love what you've done with the Heartless. Destroying worlds and all that. Really, it's all so epic! But in three games, two upcoming spinoffs, a manga series and innumerable dreary fanfics, you've never gotten it right. Because you've always made one mistake."

Maleficent's gaze became a furious glare. "Is that so? Well, o Clown Prince of Crime, do enlighten me on just what exactly my shortcomings are."

The Joker's grin widened. "You've underestimated the heroes every single time. It's true! If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can never catch heroes in a sweeping, epic plot. You have to go smaller. You have to strike directly at what they love most. Then, they'll come right up to your very doorstep. And that's when you spring the trap. KABLOOIE!!"

Maleficent leaned back in her throne. "Hmmm...And...I suppose you have a plan for doing this?"

"But of course." the Joker purred. "The first step is to distract them with a seemingly epic plot. That keeps them from mucking up your real plans. Of course, if I'm to help you, I'll need a way to get from place to place. The Corridors of Darkness are just bad for my complexion."

Now, Maleficent truly smiled. "I think, Joker, I may just have the perfect ship for you."

* * *

Davy Jones sat in his cabin, his musical locket open before him. Its mournful tune carried him many places and to another time when he had been happy. "Calypso..." he whispered. He was startled to discover a tear forming in his eye. He brushed it aside angrily and swept out of the cabin. There was only one thing in the universe that could make him feel pain, and he knew it was near. He gathered a number of crewmen and took them down to the lower hold. There, he found Maleficent and a large number of Heartless, all gathered around the Dead Man's Chest.

Jones seethed. "Get that infernal thing out of here! I will not have it on my ship!"

The witch smirked. "Really? Because I will. I warned you about crossing me, Jones. And yet you disobeyed me again. Perhaps now you'll do as you're told."

"The Dutchman sails as it's Captain commands!"

"Then it's Captain will sail as commanded! And to ensure that you continue to behave," she gestured towards the back of the room, "he will be staying here with you."

Jones turned. Leaning against the wall was a man in a purple suit with the truly evil face of a clown. On his head was a tall naval officer's hat, tilted rakishly. The Joker grinned. "Meet your new Commodore, me hearties! The Dutchman is now under _my_ command. _Hehehehe... Hehehehehehehehe... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA_!"

* * *

As soon as the ship landed back at Radiant Garden, Sora and Riku went off in different directions. Kairi sighed. "I hate seeing them mad at each other."

"Ah, it'll blow over." said Donald. "Remember when they actually fought each other a few years ago? If they made up after that, then this is nothing."

"I hope you're right." Kairi said.

* * *

Sora plopped down on a bench, watching the townspeople going about their daily business. He felt bad about egging Riku on. But it wasn't like Riku was without blame! After all, he had called Sora a distraction. It was a few moments before he felt that he was being watched. He looked around and jumped when he saw the Janitor, leaning on a broom and glaring at him.

"Uh...how's it going?" Sora asked.

"I'm 40 years old and I'm a janitor. How do _you_ think it's going?"

"There is nothing wrong with being a Janitor." Sora said, going for kindness. But he knew he had made a mistake somehow when the man's expression hardened.

"Oh, really? Thank you." he said sarcastically. "You've turned my life around. I'm gonna have to go tell my janitor wife and all our janitor children that life is worth living. And that comes straight from our hero; Mr. Whozits...Mr Nothing." Sora sighed irritably and got up to walk away. "No, seriously!" the Janitor called after him. "Why don't you come over to my humble house and point out things that are cheap!"

_Great._ Sora thought moodily. _This day is fantastic._

"Excuse me, are you Sora?"

"Yes!" Sora snapped. "I'm Sora, the world's biggest jerk! Look at him! How'd he get that Keyblade? Did he swipe it from a terminally ill child?"

He whirled and stopped when he saw that the speaker was a complete stranger. She was a beautiful young woman with platinum-colored hair, wearing a professional-looking business suit that still managed to show off her curves rather nicely. "Uh...Sorry...uh...Miss. Yes, I'm Sora. Uh...What's your name?"

The woman smiled. "You can call me...Mirage." she said in an exotic accent. "I hope you don't mind that I tracked you down here, but I have come with a proposition for you."


	10. The New Supers

Sora followed the woman called Mirage to a secluded hangar where she led him inside a sleek, black ship. To say that he was intrigued by her would be an understatement. There was just something about her that captivated him and it was more than just the fact that she was gorgeous.

"I'm sorry for the secrecy," she said, "but I have come to you with a rather delicate matter. You see, word of your heroic acts has spread far and wide. I come from another world and we have a slight problem. On the island where I work, a terrible robot is loose and is destroying everything it comes into contact with. It is contained on the island, but it threatens to cause incalculable damage to hundreds of millions of munny in equipment and research."

Sora frowned. "Where did this robot come from?"

Mirage sighed and looked away. "We built it. Allow me to explain. I work for a company that makes advanced weapons and technology. We built the Omnidroid 9000-D to be a smart battle robot, capable of solving any problem it is faced with. And...unfortunately..."

"It got smart enough to wonder why it has to follow orders." Sora finished.

Mirage nodded. "Not only that, but it was infused with the power of Darkness."

Sora's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

She shook her head. "It was stupid and reckless. I tried to tell my employer that, but he can be...ambitious...at times. Anyways, all attempts to stop it have failed. You are our last hope, Sora."

Sora thought it over a moment. "Well...I'll have to talk it over with my friends..."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." said Mirage quickly. "As you well know, tampering with the power of Darkness is a rather touchy subject, especially on Radiant Garden. So we would prefer that this matter be handled as discreetly as possible. You will be back before anyone knows you're gone."

Sora thought it over a moment. _This is your chance to prove that you're more than a distraction._ said a sly voice in the back of his mind. _She came to you, not Riku._ Sora grinned. "Let's go. I'll kick that robot's metal butt."

Mirage smiled warmly. "We've already taken off."

Sora looked out the window and was quite startled to find that the view had changed to show stars whizzing by. He hadn't even felt the ship take off!

"There is one more thing." she said. "A normal person with your powers would be difficult to explain on the off chance that you met an uninformed resident of my world, so we've prepared an alias for you." She stood and pressed a button on the wall. A hatch slid open smoothly revealing a glowing orb. She handed it to him, and instantly, he felt his magical clothes react to it. He was enveloped by a bright light and when it faded, the clothes had changed. He now wore a yellow and black skintight suit, with a red stripe going down the sides. Yellow and black boots had replaced his large shoes. On his chest was the same crown emblem that had been on his necklace, surrounded by a golden swirl. Draped around his shoulders was a long black cape, lined with yellow and over his eyes was a black mask.

Mirage stood back and admired the new look. "Not bad. Your new identity is Kid Keyblade, a new Super Hero looking to make a name for himself. For now, just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Sora grinned and plopped down into a cushy seat. He was going to like this world, he decided.

* * *

It wasn't long before they arrived at Mirage's world. The woman explained that the only safe way to get Sora onto the island was an aerial drop. As he got into the ship's escape pod, he gave Mirage a thumbs-up. She smiled, but as the pod was sealed, he thought he saw a look of regret pass over her face. He shook his head and put it out of his mind. He had a mission to complete. When the pod landed, he climbed out, summoned the Keyblade and instantly began looking around.

"If I were a giant killer robot, where would I hide?" he muttered.

The snapping of a stick behind him warned him to jump out of the way, just as a massive clawed appendage swung through the space he had been occupying. He rolled to his feet and looked up. There, towering over him, was what had to be his target. It was a large sphere with four tentacle-like arms holding it up and a raised cylindrical head on top. The single eye on the head was the sickly dark purple color he had come to associate with Darkness. It swung another arm at him, this time connecting and driving him into a tree. Without giving him a second to recover, it grabbed his leg and tossed him into the air. As he fell, he aimed the Keyblade at its head and shouted, "Blizzaga!" A wave of ice found its mark, temporarily blinding the robot. As he landed, Sora ran up and swung the Keyblade with all his might into its bloated body. The resulting vibration nearly made him drop his weapon. He barely managed to dodge out of the way as another arm swung at him. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Its eye seemed to be its only weakness! He waited until it swung at him again and then made a spectacular leap on top of it. He knew he only had once chance at this, so he quickly aimed the Keyblade and sent straight into its eye, a beam of pure light. The head exploded dramatically and Sora leapt off before the rest of the body followed suit.

He sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Phew! That wasn't so hard."

"That was only the appetizer, darling. I am the main course."

Sora spun and found the sole of a boot moving towards his face at a speed far too fast to dodge. The kick sent him spiraling to the ground. As he blacked out, the last thing he heard was a woman's sadistic laughter.

* * *

Sora groaned and opened his eyes. He found upon waking that he was trapped in some kind of machine. His arms and legs were completely encased in metal spheres which were held up by streams of energy. He tried to summon the Keyblade, but when he did, his body was wracked by a tremendous wave of pain.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you. Enough of that electricity would take down a rhino. Imagine what it could do to a scrawny little punk like you." Sora looked up painfully. Standing before him was a rather...eclectic...group of individuals. At the forefront was a masked man in a suit like his, except black and white with a large letter "S" adorning the front. His hair was orange and spiked up so tall that it accounted for roughly a third of his height. "You can call me Syndrome. I believe you know my lovely assistant, Mirage." Sora noticed the woman standing aside, seeing unable to meet his eyes. "And these fine people are my greatest creations. You've...met...Rosso the Crimson already." he gestured at a woman in a skimpy outfit, dominated by the color of blood. She smiled, showing slightly pointed teeth, and laughed. Sora felt a wave of revulsion as he recognized the laugh from the person who had kicked him in the forest. "This is Azul the Cerulean," He indicated a giant of a man with ice-blue hair who looked like he could tear Sora apart with his bare hands. "Nero the Sable," This was a man with black hair, large metal wings and strange bandages criss-crossing his face. "And last, and unfortunately least, Shelke the Transparent." This final individual was a girl, no older than 10, with auburn hair and a totally blank expression on her face.

"What do you want with me?" Sora demanded.

"Me? I don't want anything with you. My good friend, Maleficent, however, is very interested in you." Sora growled. He should have known that she had something to do with this. "Man," Syndrome continued, laughing, "I can't believe she's had this much trouble with you. Seriously, could you have fallen into a more obvious trap? But then you _are_ the naive one, right? Send you a hot babe who says she's in trouble and you're gone before you can say 'moron.'"

Sora glared at Mirage who still didn't look him in the eyes. "So you set all this up, and made those four just to catch me?"

Syndrome laughed unkindly. "What kind of a god complex have you got, little man? You're just icing on the cake. I made the Tsviets here (came up with the name myself, by the way) to be my enforcers. They're the unstoppable force that's gonna take out any heroes who try to get in the way of the Heartless. Their first test run is in..." he looked at his watch. "just under twenty-four hours. I'm gonna land them and more Heartless than you've ever seen right in the center of downtown Metroville.."

Mirage gasped and stared at him. "You never said anything about-"

"Excuse me!" Syndrome snapped. "But I believe your job is to look hot and do as you're told! Now where was I? Oh yeah. And this is just the beginning. From here, we'll head over to Radiant Garden where we'll take out all your friends one-by-one. And you get to watch it all happen." said Syndrome. He pressed a button on his gauntlet and a large screen in the wall activated, showing an image of a rocket, which hundreds of Heartless were currently boarding. "But at least you'll have some company for the show. Kid Keyblade, meet Mr. Incredible." Sora noticed for the first time that he was not the only prisoner in the room. In restraints just like his was another masked man every bit as muscular as Azul and wearing a red and black bodysuit with a stylized letter "I" on the chest. He didn't even look up as his name was mentioned. His head was drooped to his chest and a look of utter defeat was on his face.

Syndrome turned with a flourish of his cape. "Time to go. We've gotta get you guys ready to launch."

Nero, Azul and Shelke instantly followed, but Rosso paused and went back to him. She stroked his face with one long fingernail. "I had hoped that you would be more of a challenge, darling. Maybe one of your friends will prove more...stimulating." With that, she chuckled and walked away seductively. Mirage seemed not to have noticed that she was the only one left until Syndrome snapped her name. She finally looked at Sora, her face etched with sorrow, before fleeing.

* * *

Kairi stood up on a bench and strained her eyes, looking over the milling crowd of people.

"Do ya see him?" Goofy asked.

"No." she sighed, hopping down.

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot irritably. "Phooey! Where is that kid?"

Yuffie, Aerith and Rinoa came running up. "We've searched the lower districts." the young Ninja said. "There's no sign of him anywhere and nobody has seen him. Leon, Cid and Kimahri are searching the bailey, and Merlin and Barrett are checking with all the Moogles."

Kairi spotted Leon and Cid approaching. "Any luck?" she asked hopefully.

Leon shook his head. "No. He's not anywhere between here and Villain's Vale."

"I checked the Rising Falls too, but he's not there either." said Cid.

"Where could he be?" asked Aerith. "I can't believe that he'd worry us like this. He must be in trouble."

"If he's not, he's gonna be!" growled Donald.

Kairi glanced over at Riku who hadn't said a word since they had discovered that Sora was missing. He simply stared expressionlessly over the city.

"Excuse me, but I have a delivery for...Kairi? Is there a Kairi here?"

Kairi blinked and walked up to the delivery man. "Uh...That's me." The man smiled and handed her a thin package. Everyone gathered around.

"It could be a trap." Leon said.

"Or it could be about Sora!" Yuffie said excitedly. Open it up!"

Cautiously, Kairi pulled the envelope open. Inside was a thin piece of metal with a glass screen set into one side. As soon as Kairi touched it, the screen turned on to show a young woman with platinum hair. _"Keyblade Masters, greetings. My name is Mirage. I have news about your friend, Sora. I tricked him into coming to my world, but I have made a terrible mistake. My employer is planning something terrible and I cannot allow it to happen. Now please pay attention, because this information will not be repeated. In Hanger 12-G, you will find my ship. Just put my card into the navigational computer and it will bring you here. You have little reason to trust me, I know, but please believe me when I tell you that millions of lives are at stake. Hurry."_ The screen winked off and a small plastic card came out the side.

"She's lying." said Yuffie instantly. Everyone stare at her. "What? She's tall and she's skinny and she's pretty and...she's lying!"

Leon sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't like it either. But we don't have anything else to go on."

"I'm going." said Riku bluntly. "It's my fault Sora left in the first place, so I should be the one to bring him back." He turned to go, but Kairi grabbed his arm.

"Riku...Sora was right about one thing. You don't have to do everything alone. We're all in this together. That means we need to stick together."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Donald. "You can't get rid of us that easy!"

"All for one and one for all!" Goofy declared.

Riku sighed and shook his head. "Hmph. I guess I have no choice."

* * *

"Well this is...interesting." said Riku, looking at the new threads the ship had provided him with. He now wore a black and navy blue bodysuit with a Heartless emblem on the chest, similar to the one he wore when he allowed his Darkness to consume him. Over that, he wore his white jacket. And on his eyes were tinted goggles. The computer had informed him that his alias was now Shade. Kairi was also wearing a bodysuit, except hers was pink and white and had a small heart emblem to one side. She also had a long pink cape. And instead of a mask, her hair had been turned completely blonde and a silver tiara with a red jewel in the center sat atop her head. She was now called Princess Heart. Goofy's costume was also a bodysuit, which was blue and gold and included a cowl with red goggles. On his chest was King Mickey's seal. His alias was Captain Disney. And finally, Donald now wore a dark purple jacket with a dark purple cape and mask and a wide-brimmed grey fedora. And his new name was Darkwing Duck.

"Oh boy!" Donald shouted gleefully, "wait 'til I tell Huey, Dewey and Louie about this!"

"_Two minutes to destination."_ said the computer.

"Alright." said Riku, pressing a button and bringing up a 3D image of the island. "There are several buildings, so we'll have to split up. I'll go around the back and through these caves. You three, find your way inside this main structure here."

"What happened to sticking together?" Kairi asked, frowning.

"I'll go faster and quieter alone. And this way, if either I get captured or you three do, we still have a chance to succeed."

"_Destination reached. Preparing to land."_

Donald narrowed his eyes dramatically. "Okay. Let's get dangerous!"


	11. Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

**NOTES** - _Thanks for the kind reviews. They really mean a lot to me. If you see somewhere I could improve, please don't hesitate to say something. For reference, I based Sora's hero costume off the new Robin (Tim Drake) costume. Kairi is a combination of Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Riku is based off of Superboy and Goofy is based off Captain America. Donald is, of course, Darkwing Duck. I know the Joker came out of the blue, but I've been on a Batman kick lately and I had some good ideas for him. There may be some other distinctly non-Disney crossovers, but nothing too radical. As always, please Read and Review!_

* * *

Riku ducked behind a tree and cautiously poked his head out.

Two Soldier Heartless and a Large Body were combing the forest, roughly twenty feet away. Leading them were two normal uniformed humans with guns. Riku gritted his teeth angrily. He hated seeing humans working side-by-side with Heartless. It made him sick.

"Excuse me..."

Riku yelped in an undignified manner and summoned his Keyblade. He thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, but by the time he looked, it had vanished.

"Over there! I heard something!"

Riku cursed and jumped out from behind the tree, launching a wave of Dark Auras at the men and Heartless. One of the Soldiers exploded into a cloud of black smoke and one of the men was slammed into a tree, but the others dodged. The remaining man raised his gun and fired. Suddenly, a shimmering blue sphere enveloped Riku, deflecting the bullets as if they were nothing. Riku was startled, but charged as soon as the sphere vanished, first finishing off the Heartless and then landing a kick on the man's jaw, knocking him out cold. He looked around. "You can come out. I know you're there."

There was silence for a single heartbeat and then a girl appeared out of thin air. She was younger than Riku and had long black hair. She wore a bodysuit like his that was black and red and had a letter "I" emblem on the chest. She crossed her arms nervously. "Sorry for scaring you, but I thought you were a superhero."

Riku looked down at his costume. He decided it might be best to play along with the rules of this world. "I guess you could say I am. You can call me Shade."

She smiled. "I'm Violet. What are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm looking for a friend of mine who got kidnaped and taken here. You haven't seen a kid with spiky brown hair, have you?"

Violet shook her head. "I haven't seen anyone except you since I got separated from my mom and my brother. We came here looking for my dad. He's a superhero too. Look, do you think I could stay with you? All I can do is turn invisible and make forcefields so I don't really want to have to try and fight any of those guys by myself."

Riku sighed. He knew he couldn't just tell her to get lost. _Guess I gotta get used to acting more like a hero._ "Alright. But stay close."

Violet beamed and followed him.

* * *

Sora struggled, trying to get out of his restraints. "Come on!" he muttered angrily. Suddenly, another jolt of electricity coursed through his body, causing him to scream in pain.

"It's no use." the man Syndrome had called Mr. Incredible said miserably. "You can't break free. I've tried. What would be the point anyways?"

"What do you mean 'what would be the point?'" Sora demanded. "We've gotta stop that rocket!"

Mr. Incredible just sighed and bowed his head again.

Suddenly, the door opened and Mirage entered. She strode up to the console and pressed a button. Instantly, Sora found himself falling to the floor, free of the restraints. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Getting you both out of here." she said. "I won't help that madman kill millions of people. Now hurry. There isn't much time."

"No..." said Mr. Incredible, grabbing her by the neck. "For you, there's no time at all."

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

"She just stood by while Syndrome killed my family!" He brought her face close to his. "Remember that plane that got shot down? My wife and kids were on it! I'm gonna break you in two for what you've done."

"A...A family...survived the crash...T-they're in the...jungle..."

Mr. Incredible was so shocked that he just dropped her. "They're alive...?" In the next instant, he had grabbed Mirage again, but this time in a hug.

Sora turned as the door opened again. A fist attached to an impossibly long arm shot past his face and struck Mirage in the jaw.

"Get away from my husband you hussy!"

Standing in the doorway, with a look that reminded Sora of how his mom looked when she got REALLY mad, was a brown-haired woman wearing the same uniform as Mr. Incredible.

"Helen!" Mr. Incredible exclaimed.

"Don't you 'Helen' me, Bob! Losing your job and resuming secret Hero work behind my back? What were you thinking?!"

Mr. Incredible laughed and hugged her. "You're mad, but I'm just happy you're alive!"

She tried to look stern, but gave it up. "Me too. Who's the sidekick?"

Sora crossed his arms. "'_Sidekick_? I'll have you know I'm a bona-fide hero!'"

"Helen," Mr. Incredible said, "I'd like you to meet Kid Keyblade. Kid Keyblade, this is my wife, Helen...er...Elastigirl. And, hey, speaking of kids, why on earth did you bring Dash and Violet?"

"I didn't!" she exclaimed. "They stowed away on the plane!"

"Well what about Jack-Jack?"

"He's with a sitter."

Sora coughed. "Uh...guys...Rocket?"

Mr. Incredible slapped his forehead. "I almost forgot! We've gotta stop that launch!"

"It's too late." said Mirage. "Look!" They looked up at the screen. The countdown had suddenly gone from twelve hours to thirty minutes. "Something must have spooked Syndrome." she said. "He's pushed the launch up."

Mr. Incredible crossed his arms. "We'll never stop it in time. We've gotta find the kids and get to Metroville. That's where the rocket is heading. Come on!"

* * *

"AndthenthemissleshittheplaneandmymomstretchedaroundusandtherewasahugeexplosionBOOM! And now, we're here!"

Kairi, Donald and Goofy stared at the little boy they had run into in the woods. Actually, to be more precise, he had run into Donald at supersonic speeds, which accounted for the duck's current bad mood. The boy named Dash seemed to be capable of an endless stream of talk that went as fast as he himself did.

"So, let me see if I've got this straight." said Kairi slowly. "You and your family, who are superheroes, came here looking for your dad, who is also a superhero?"

"Yep! He's Mr. Incredible! You're probably heard of him! And my mom-"

"Look out!" Goofy cried.

Tearing through the forest towards them were several flying saucer-like vehicles with spinning blades around them. Heartless, both air and ground varieties, were right behind them.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us." said Kairi, drawing her Keyblade.

"Not to worry!" said Dash. "You're with a real superhero!"

Donald glared at him. "What are we, chopped liver?" He aimed his staff at the closest of the flying saucers and shouted, "Graviga!" The craft was dragged to the ground where it bounced once, spun off course and exploded against a tree.

Goofy threw his shield at the driver of one vehicles, knocking him out and sending it careening off into the woods.

Kairi cut through two Heartless and annihilated a third with a Thundaga spell.

Dash, meanwhile, was living up to his name by running around Heartless an pummeling them before they knew he was even there.

* * *

Riku stopped. "Did you hear that? It sounded like an explosion."

"_You're too sloooow! You're too sloooow!" _

Violet gasped. "That's Dash! Come on! We gotta help him!"

Riku sighed, irritated at the distraction, but followed her. Jumping into the clearing, he was surprised to find his companions there as well. He obliterated two Heartless and fought until he was back-to-back with Kairi. "I thought you were going for the caves!" she said, firing a Blizzaga at a Saucer and barely missing.

Riku caught it with a Dark Firaga. "I thought _you_ were going for the main complex."

"We were, but we ran into trouble."

A Neo Shadow leapt for Goofy, but slammed into the forcefield Violet created around him. Distracted, she missed a man who kicked her to the ground. He raised his gun to make the kill, but was suddenly lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree. "NOBODY hits my kids!" Elastigirl shouted furiously.

"Mom!" Violet exclaimed.

A saucer was bearing down on Dash when a tree swung out of nowhere and destroyed it. "It's showtime!" said Mr. Incredible.

"Dad!" Dash said excitedly.

The Heartless gathered together for one last attack, but Sora leapt into the middle of them, hacking away with the Kingdom Key until none were left. Looking around and seeing that the danger had passed, he approached his friends. "Uh...hey, guys. I-" Kairi hugged him tightly, but then backed away and began smacking him repeatedly. "Dont-You-Ever-Do-That-Again!"

"Ow! Ow! Cut it out, Kairi!"

"That's Princess Heart to you, bub!" she snapped. "I swear if you ever do that to me again, I'll never forgive you!"

He sighed as she stomped away. "I'm in the doghouse big time, aren't I?"

"Yep." said Donald and Mr. Incredible together.

"She'll forgive you." said Riku. "After all, we all screw up sometimes."

Sora looked at him and grinned. Riku grinned back and Sora knew that no other words of apology needed to be spoken.

Suddenly, a crackling blue field surrounded Sora and he found himself completely unable to move. He could see out of the corner of his eye that the others were in the same situation.

"THAT was awesome! Seriously! I got it all recorded and I am SO putting it on Youtube!" Syndrome laughed, holding the heroes immobile with beams emanating from his fingertips. "So there are more of you Keyblade brats? Man, I bet Maleficent pays me double-no-QUADRUPLE for this! And what's this?" He brought the Incredibles all together. "Matching uniforms? It's not like the great Mr. Incredible to be on a team. No...not a team...Oh my god! ELASTIGIRL? You married ELASTIGIRL?" he looked at Dash and Violet. "And got busy! HAHA! It's a whole super-family!" From all sides came men with guns, Heatless and saucers. As soon as they were surrounded with no hope of escape, he slammed the heroes down onto the ground.

Mr. Incredible stood up. "Listen to me, Buddy-"

"MY NAME IS NOT BUDDY! And it's not Incrediboy either! That ship has sailed! All I wanted was to help you. I ONLY WANTED TO HELP! And what did you say to me? 'Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.'" Mr. Incredible looked ashamed. "But you taught me something important. You taught me that you can't count on anyone Especially not your heroes."

"Buddy," pleaded Mr. Incredible, "I was wrong back then and I'm sorry."

"See?!" laughed Syndrome, "NOW you respect me because I'm a threat. Turns out there are a lot of people out there who want respect. And now, I'm with a group of them. And once we take the power of Kingdom Hearts for ourselves, the whole universe will respect us."

"You think Maleficent is gonna share that power with you?" Riku spat. "You're even stupider than you look."

"Sticks and stones, fangirl candy boy. If she gets in my way, I'll do the same thing to her that I'm going to do to Metroville in...5...4...3...2...1..."

A deep rumble shook the island as the rocket shot up from the mouth of the volcano and vanished into the sky.

Syndrome grinned. "There goes the neighborhood. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to go see my creations do their stuff in person. Ta ta, heroes!"

* * *

Rosso laughed sadistically as she cut down the pathetic human soldiers. A few yards away, she saw Nero swallow a group of men in a wave of darkness.

"Fire at will!" an officer shouted. A group of soldiers and policemen leveled their guns at the hulking form of Azul, who laughed as the bullets bounced off his thick hide. He grinned and lifted a parked car off the street. Then, as if it weighed nothing, he tossed it at them, making them scatter like ants.

Shelke used two glowing orange sabers to knock back anyone who came close to her, but she made no real effort to join the combat.

All the time, Heartless continued to swarm out of the crashed rocketship.

* * *

Mr. Incredible sighed, seeing the destruction on the screen that Syndrome had left on for them. "This is all my fault. I've been a lousy father. I've been blind to what I have. I was so obsessed with being undervalued that I undervalued all of you." Violet rolled her eyes and created a forcefield around herself, disrupting the electricity and setting her free. "Uh...Mr. Incredible..." said Sora, but Elastigirl shushed him. "So caught up in the past that I...You are my greatest adventure. And I almost missed it! I swear that I am gonna get us out of this-"

"Well," said Violet pointedly, "I think dad has made some excellent progress today, but I think it's time we wind down now." She pressed the release button and they all fell out of the restraints.

"Right...uh...thanks, Vi." said Mr. Incredible. He cleared his throat and said in his 'hero voice,' "We need to get back to the mainland. Any ideas?"

"There's a hangar just a little ways away." said Kairi. "I saw it when they brought us in."

They encountered no guards along the way. Sora figured they were watching the destruction happening in the city. The hangar, likewise, was empty. And there in the center was the same ship Mirage had brought him in. "Bingo." he said. "But how do we get in?"

"Just say 'please.'" Mirage stepped out from behind it, smiling and holding up her card.

* * *

"Is that all the resistance you worms have to offer?" Azul shouted, hefting a tank's cannon that he had ripped off. "Are none of you strong enough to challenge me?"

"I might be."

A ham-sized fist slugged the monster in the jaw, sending him flying through the wall of a building. He stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at the form of Mr. Incredible standing before him. "Heh...it's been quite some time since I saw some of my own blood Not bad, human."

Mr. Incredible grinned and got into fighting stance, beckoning him forward.

* * *

Nero had just swallowed a tank with Darkness when he suddenly felt something behind him. He leapt out of the way as a ball of fire from Donald struck where he had been. He stood and brushed himself off. "You're brave to challenge me, waterfowl."

"He's not alone!" said Goofy, standing next to his friend with his shield ready.

"Darn right, he's not!" said Elastigirl.

Nero laughed. "Very well. You will all be swallowed by the power of darkness."

* * *

Shelke stood in the ruined street, studying Kairi coldly. "You are a Keyblade Master." she said in a perfectly monotone voice.

"Look, you don't have to do this." Kairi said. "You don't have to follow Syndrome."

"I serve only my master." Shelke replied, drawing her sabers.

Kairi sighed and held the Oathkeeper ready. Shelke moved like a blur and Kairi barely had time to block her first strike. The second nicked her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted. He ran to help her. Riku made to follow him, but a large group of Heartless rose out of the street between him and the battle. He turned to Dash and Violet. "We've gotta take these Heartless out, otherwise they'll just make more out of the townspeople. Think you can help me do that?"

The two young heroes nodded.

* * *

Rosso sat atop a building, lazily kicking one foot up in the air. She had gotten hardly any satisfaction from defeating the humans. She longed for a real challenge. Then, she caught sight of the battle on the street directly below her. A silver-haired boy was actually using the power of Darkness _against_ the Heartless. He was magnificent. It was clear that he had been fighting his whole life. She chuckled and drew her weapon. With a graceful swan dive, she jumped off the building and landed in front of him. She waved one hand and the Heartless dispersed.

Riku snorted. "What are you supposed to be?"

Rosso smiled wickedly. "Your worst nightmare, darling."


End file.
